The Face of Jizo by Omusubi Productions commemorates 80 years since the bombing of Hiroshima with a story that demands both reverence and attention. It is a show of remarkable tenderness, where grief and love are woven together with such quiet grace that I left the theatre carrying both sorrow and hope in equal measure.
The play was written by Japanese playwright Hisashi Inoue and was first performed in 1994. The 2023 Australian premiere at the Old Fitz Theatre sold out to critical acclaim, and now the play returns to the Seymour Centre, translated by Roger Pulvers and co-directed by Shingo Usami and David Lynch.
The story unfolds in Hiroshima, three years after the devastation of 6 August 1945. Mitsue (Mayu Iwasaki), a young librarian, returns home to find her father, Takezo (Shingo Usami), suddenly there.
In this delicate balance between past and present, father and daughter must navigate their memories, regrets, and lingering guilt. With humour, patience, and quiet love, Takezo gently guides Mitsue toward the possibility of embracing life once more.
What stands out immediately is the intimacy of the production. The play could so easily have been weighed down by its heavy historical context. Instead each scene begins with a radiant lightness and humanity.
Iwasaki’s Mitsue is heartbreaking in her fragility, yet quietly resilient. Usami brings warmth and humour to Takezo, balancing paternal playfulness with aching poignancy. Their chemistry gives the play its pulse; the tender push and pull between grief and healing, fear and forgiveness.
The production’s design elements are deceptively simple, but profoundly effective. Tobhiyah Stone Feller’s set evokes both the ordinary domestic space of Mitsue’s home and the ghostly remnants of a city shattered just outside the window.
Matt Cox’s lighting and Zachary Saric’s sound design shift us gently between the two time periods, at times grounding us in Mitsue’s present reality, at times pulling us back to the chaos and memory of that fateful day. Together, the creative team ensures that the stage itself feels haunted, not by horror, but by memory and love.
Shingo Usami and David Lynch’s shared directorial vision is clear: this is not a play about despair, but resilience. Their touch is light, honouring Inoue’s writing by allowing the humour and humanity to breathe amidst the shadows of history. As a result, the audience is invited to weep, but also to laugh. And perhaps, like Mitsue, to find a measure of peace.
As I was walking out, some of the audience members hadn’t left their seats because they were still taking in the play. Others were sniffing and wiping away a tear because of how it moved them.
For me, it felt like the back half was a touch repetitive: a happy, joyful start to a scene, a reveal about what each character was doing on that day, and a sad, tearful ending. It was effective the first time, but by the third scene in a row, it had lost its effect.
There is lots to love in this production. The Face of Jizo is a beautiful story that asks us to remember Hiroshima not only as a tragedy but as a testimony to the endurance of love.
If you like this story about survivors’ guilt in Japan after World War II, I suggest you watch the film Godzilla Minus One where the central character goes on a similar journey.
The Face of Jizo runs until 6 September at the Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre. Corner City Road and Cleveland Street Chippendale NSW 2008.
Tickets are available here.
Website: https://www.seymourcentre.com/event/the-face-of-jizo/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/omusubi_productions/
Photo credits: Phil Erbacher
