In Okinawa during the final days of the World War II, two Japanese soldiers climbed up a tree to seek refuge from enemy attacks. Unaware that the war had ended, the soldiers spent the next two years in the tree, waiting for peace.

The play "Army on the Tree," currently showing at the Seoul Arts Center until Feb. 28, is based on the true story of two soldiers who spent two years of wartime in a tree. The late Inoue Hisashi (1934-2010) began writing the play, and Horai Ryuta finished the incomplete script and brought the production to life in 2013.

The main characters are "Commander," recruited from the Japanese mainland, and "Private," a native Okinawan who enlisted in the army to protect his family. The two become trapped in the tree in the midst of a battle that has killed all of their comrades. The extreme situation in which the men find themselves over the next two years calls attention to the futility of war and to the loss of human dignity. Moreover, the long stretch of time spent in the tree leads to introspection and doubt, and a kind of psychological warfare ensues between the characters.

The gigantic banyan tree that fills the entire stage has an overbearing presence in the theater and is a character in its own right. The mise en scene created by the thick, gnarly branches creates a unique setting upon which actors have to rest and maneuver their bodies while delivering their performances.

Overall, the play examines the contradictions of war by removing two soldiers from the actual battle and placing them in a microcosmic version of "a war in a tree." Through the confrontations and moments of empathy between the characters, the playwright observes that life itself is a never-ending war, a war from which human beings need to safeguard the values that are worth living for.

More information on the production can be found at the following link:
http://www.sacticket.co.kr/home/play/play_view.jsp?seq=27543

By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Seoul Arts Center
hlee10@korea.kr