The Mistake at Arcola Theatre

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2. The Mistake

After a completely sold-out run in January/February, this urgent, award-winning play about the destruction of Hiroshima returns to London’s Arcola Theatre, 18 – 22 April 2023. 

1942. On a squash court in Chicago, a dazzling experiment takes place, which three years later will destroy a city and change the world forever.

Featuring two actors – Michael Mears and Emiko Jane Ishii – and partly using verbatim testimonies, THE MISTAKE explores the circumstances surrounding the explosion of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, observing the event that launched our nuclear age through the eyes of a brilliant Hungarian scientist, a daring American pilot and a devoted Japanese daughter. 

Almost eighty years after the event which the Hiroshima Peace Memorial describes as ‘the mistake’, the play is a timely reminder of the dangers that arise when humans dare to unlock the awesome power of nature.

Following its critically acclaimed debut at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022 and six completely sold-out performances at the Arcola Theatre earlier this year, THE MISTAKE, written by Michael Mears and directed by Rosamunde Hutt, returns for a second run from 18 – 22 April. Don’t miss this unflinching and thought-provoking production!

Emiko Ishii as Shigeko Nomura. Photographer: Simon Richardson.

Michael Mears as Paul Tibbets and Emiko Ishii as The Woman - not long till the bomb drops. Photographer: Simon Richardson.

Michael Mears as Leo Szilard, after the experiment. Photographer: Simon Richardson.

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