So it’s actually happening – and I can reveal where it’s actually happening…we are honoured to have been invited to perform THE MISTAKE in New York City at 59E59 Theaters as part of their annual Brits off Broadway season…we’ll be there from April 24^th to May 11^th (not Mondays), with post-show talkbacks after each Friday show.  I’d be so grateful if friends could spread the word, particularly to anyone you know Stateside. 

Here’s the link to our showpage…  https://www.59e59.org/shows/show-detail/the-mistake/ (photos by Simon Richardson)

We’ll arrive in New York City after half a dozen performances in other towns and in two universities. What a time to be in the States with this play – a play about the suffering caused to innocent lives by the devastation of war, about the dangers nuclear weapons pose to the world… 

In these ever more fragile times I cling to any rays of hope that I find.  Leo Szilard in THE MISTAKE has as his mantra, ‘the narrow margin of hope’ we must all maintain and believe in, and I think of Leonard Cohen’s ‘there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in…’  

It’s 80 years since American atomic bombs were dropped on two Japanese cities.  As I write this, a new US President will be taking their seat in the White House.  And in early April we will be bringing my play THE MISTAKE, about the terrifying dangers of nuclear weapons, to the USA.  

We will be touring there for six weeks from the start of April, and it’s an expensive undertaking, though in order to help the tour proceed, I have chosen once again to be unpaid myself.

Potential sympathetic funding bodies in the UK won’t fund a project that goes abroad and I hesitated to reach out to friends and supporters one more time, but I’m going to do so – and ask if you can help us get the play to the USA, to share the urgent themes and message of the play with a wider, American, audience?  Join us in our efforts to enlighten, to illuminate, to change hearts and minds, through the emotional power of theatrical storytelling?   

Any donation however small will make a difference. Or even just sharing the appeal with anyone you think might be able to help.  Here’s the Crowdfunding link for donations which gives a lot more information.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/taking-the-mistake-to-the-usa

With many thanks to everyone for taking the time to consider this.  

(Photos by Simon Richardson and poster design by Jerry Williams.)

‘The whole way I am oppressed by the thought that all the damage I see was done in one instant by one bomb.’  Father Wilhelm in THE PRIEST’S TALE. 

I’m giving two more performances of this piece in early November.  Based on an account in John Hersey’s brilliant book ‘Hiroshima’, it’s the compelling story of a German priest who survived the first atomic bomb. 

On Sunday November 3^rd, 1.30pm at Hammersmith Quaker Meeting House, London, W6 0DT, nearest tube – Ravenscourt Park.  The Priest’s Tale – a story for our times | Hammersmith Quaker Meeting (hammersmithquakers.org.uk)

And on Thursday 7th November, 7pm, at Edinburgh Quaker Meeting House, EH1 2JL.  quakerscotland.org

Photograph by Simon Richardson.

Since time immemorial wars have always resulted in the deaths of countless innocent civilians – and made so many children orphans. The photo is of three orphaned brothers in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. And as I write this, somewhere in the world more children are being orphaned as a result of the terrible conflicts that are currently raging. When is it going to stop? All this senseless violence?

(Photo – Joe O’Donnell, courtesy of Kimiko Sakai)

This week I will be giving three more performances of The Priest’s Tale, in Harringay and Wandsworth, London and in Huddersfield. A mere drop in the ocean towards peace – these modest artistic offerings. But I will offer them and continue to offer them regardless of how futile it may sometimes seem. In Harringay on Wednesday, I am performing at the church of the London Catholic Worker.
They are a community of the international Catholic Worker movement, a radical Christian movement dedicated to community, hospitality, and resistance. They run Giuseppe Conlon House in Harringay, a house of hospitality providing accommodation and support to homeless and destitute male asylum seekers and other migrants with no recourse to public funds. They also engage in nonviolent activism for peace, justice and planet. They believe that the ‘works of mercy’ – feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, welcoming the stranger or migrant – are opposed to the works of war. They have no paid staff, receive no money from the government, and are dependent on donations to continue their work. Tickets for Wednesday’s performance are free and all donations on the night will go to towards their work, with a proportion going to CND. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-priests-tale-tickets-951987047887?aff=oddtdtcreator

Huge thanks to all those who came along (or joined online) to watch our Evening Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was an honour to have peace poet Antony Owen come down from Coventry to join us and make such a powerful contribution to the evening, and to have Chihiro Ono playing her violin so poignantly and beautifully. We managed to raise some money for CND, who supported the event, and Sands Films, our hosts, were as brilliantly supportive as ever. The event is online until the end of this month…
https://watch.eventive.org/sandsmusic/play/667d3dd0d48cb0003a979c53/667d3dd0d48cb0003a979c56

Photos of me as Father Wilhelm, a German priest who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, are by Simon Richardson. I’ve lost count of how many priests I’ve played in my career, but Father Wilhelm is one of the most remarkable. I will be performing The Priest’s Tale on its own a few more times in September…
September 11th at 7.30pm at St Augustine’s church in Harringay, north London, N4 1BG, hosted by the London Catholic Worker –
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-priests-tale-tickets-951987047887?aff=oddtdtcreator
September 13th at 7.30pm at Huddersfield Friends Meeting House HD1 4TR
September 14th at 6pm at Wandsworth Friends Meeting House, London, SW18 2PT https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-priests-tale-one-man-play-by-award-winning-actor-michael-mears-tickets-995150801837?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=1
And on September 27th at 7.30pm at Chester Friends Meeting House CH1 3LF

Very excited to update the news on the event I’ve planned for August 8^th – Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki… (live and livestreamed from Sands Films Studios, London SE16 4HZ).  Myself and Japanese violinist Chihiro Ono will be joined by ANTONY OWEN, peace poet, reading from and talking about his work.

Described by Joseph Horgan as “the bravest British poet of his generation,” Antony Owen, from Coventry, is one of the leading writers of war and peace poetry active today.  His collection The Nagasaki Elder was shortlisted for the coveted Ted Hughes Award and his work is taught at regular poetry workshops in Hiroshima.  This event is supported by CND, with all donations being shared by Sands Films and CND.  It will be available for a while afterwards online. Register here:  https://sandsmusic.eventive.org/schedule/667d39806749e300a686d8c1 

Thursday August 8^th  – 7.30pm  (live and also livestreamed)  Sands Films Studios, Rotherhithe, London SE16 4HZ   

THE PRIEST’S TALE – with Michael Mears and violinist Chihiro Ono

The riveting story of a miraculous suitcase, a daring escape and the devastation wreaked on a city in one instant by one bomb…

Newly revised and staged for live performance, THE PRIEST’S TALE by actor/playwright Michael Mears is his adaptation of one of the atomic-bomb survivors’ accounts from John Hersey’s remarkable book HIROSHIMA.

Father Wilhelm was a German Jesuit priest living in Hiroshima, who survived the blast but witnessed much of the destruction.  THE PRIEST’S TALE is a clear-eyed depiction of the pity of war…and of the terror wrought at the start of our nuclear age…told with compassion, warmth and flashes of humour…   

Live musical accompaniment will be provided by London-based Japanese violinist CHIHIRO ONO.  After the 1 hour (approx.) performance there will be a Q and A and a guest speaker – details tbc.

This event is supported by CND, with all donations being shared by Sands Films and CND.  Register here :  https://sandsmusic.eventive.org/schedule/667d39806749e300a686d8c1 

‘An extraordinary piece of theatre.  Exceptional performance, incredible script.’   Jo Siedlecka INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS

Early days, but I am beginning to put out feelers to various contacts in the USA and Japan to see whether we can take my play THE MISTAKE to venues in both countries. I also hope to set up a few more UK performances, and there’s possible interest from one or two places in Germany. Anyone reading this that has any other thoughts on possible locations and venues, I’d be glad to hear them (via the contact page on this website). More news as plans develop…