A Sydney scholar’s original Noh play was performed in Tokyo this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9 August).

Emeritus Professor Allan Marett FAHA, from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and long-time academic at the University of Sydney, is the writer of Oppenheimer, a Noh play that reimagines the physicist often called the “father of the atomic bomb” as a ghost seeking redemption.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that a piece born out of decades of teaching, writing and performing in Sydney is finding new life on a Tokyo stage at such an important moment in history,” said Professor Marett. “It’s both humbling and exhilarating to see traditional Japanese artists take up this story and present it through the powerful lens of Noh theatre.”

Performed in English by Theatre Nohgaku, a Japanese American company of Noh-trained performers, Oppenheimer fuses Professor Marett’s libretto with music by acclaimed composer and performer Richard Emmert. The play explores transgression, repentance and the burden of responsibility, culminating in a spiritual descent into the fires of Hiroshima and an encounter with the Buddhist deity Fudō Myō-ō.

The Tokyo production was staged at the recently renovated Kita Noh Theatre and co-presented by the Kita School of Noh, a centuries-old tradition known for nurturing new work. Genichi Shimizu, Director of the Kita Noh Theatre, said it is “highly significant to sponsor these performances on the 80th anniversary of the war’s end… timed to coincide with August 6 and 9, the dates of the atomic bombings.”

Actor John Oglevee, a founding member of Theatre Nohgaku, reprised his role as Oppenheimer, which he first performed at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2015. “I see the presentation of this piece as an offering to share pain in order to facilitate healing,” Oglevee said. “When donning a mask in Noh, one loses oneself… striving to connect with the very roots of humanity.”

Noh Theatre is a traditional form of Japanese performance that combines music, dance and drama in a highly stylised and symbolic way. One of the world’s oldest surviving theatrical forms, Noh was developed in the 14th century and is performed on a bare wooden stage by actors in elaborate costumes and masks. Accompanied by a small ensemble of musicians, each performance unfolds with poetic restraint, evoking deep emotion through minimal movement and timeless ritual. 
 
Oppenheimer was first developed and performed at Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2015.
 
“Noh theatre is just so different from Western theatre,” said Professor Matthew Hindson, Deputy Dean of Sydney Conservatorium of Music. “It’s steeped in its own unique traditions, even down to the structure of the music and how it all fits together.

 “This really is so wonderful and a testament to Allan's extraordinary work in this area. His passion for Noh drama was translated to generations of University of Sydney students through his teaching – it was all so new and earth-shattering for us to study: a completely different way of thinking.”

On 5 August, Professor Marett delivered a public lecture at Waseda University alongside Professor Taichi Koyama of Rikkyo University, reflecting on his lifelong engagement with Noh and the philosophical forces that shaped the play.

The Tokyo performances were presented by The Yanai Initiative at Waseda University and Theatre Nohgaku with support from the Roppeita XIV Memorial Foundation. “I hope these two performances of Oppenheimer will leave those lucky enough to experience them with a renewed sense that, even now, Noh matters,” said Dr Michael Emmerich, co-founder of the Yanai Initiative. “It remains as powerfully essential now as it has ever been.”

As nuclear tensions continue to shape global politics, Oppenheimer offers a timely meditation on war, legacy and the possibility of healing. “While Oppenheimer addresses the pain of those who suffered from Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Professor Marett says, “it also highlights the ongoing struggle to reinterpret that legacy. My hope is that this play can show how, by engaging with suffering, both our own and others, we can transform disaster into a narrative of hope and liberating action.”