Blind ambition leads to Japanese gore galore

ONLY one offering in the Arts Festival comes with the warning Unsuitable for Children. So why has Japan's Chijinkai Theatre Company been singled out? The spectacularly gruesome execution at the end of Yabuhara Kengyo (The Great Doctor Yabuhara ) would be enough to send any child into screaming nightmares, though adults with a taste for black humour will probably relish it.

They will be in good company, for this is the production which took the coveted Critics' Award for Theatre at the 1990 Edinburgh Festival, winning raves such as ''a landmark event''.

Written by prolific novelist and playwright Hisashi Inoue and directed by Chijinkai's guiding light Koichi Kimura, Yabuhara Kengyo (APA Lyric Theatre, February 15-17) created an uproar when first performed in Japan in 1973, and is still highly controversial.

Why? For full answers, you'd need a thorough understanding of the Japanese psyche. Failing that, it helps to know that in Japan, the blind are traditionally regarded as gentle, refined souls and that during the Edo period (1603-1867), when Yabuhara Kengyo takes places, they were classified into ranks.

Highest in the pecking order were the kengyo, tonsured like monks and considered sacred beings, while those at the bottom of the heap had to be very nifty to survive - especially in times of famine when they were usually drowned.

Blind Ambition could well be the title of Inoue's piece which traces the rise and fall of a Suginoichi, born blind and poor, with the instincts and habits of Caligula. There's gore galore in this drama about a multiple murderer-rapist who starts his heinous career as an entertainer. Some atmospheric music and exquisite staging give it that special Japanese touch, and subtitles (in English and Cantonese) should provide extra insights.