ButohBAR Out of Order

As an avant-garde and experimental Japanese theatre tradition, Butoh exhibits a great deal of post-war and postmodern dystopian anxieties. ButohBAR visits some very dark psychological places and spaces and this is where the anti-aesthetics is particularly at work in this production. The stage, set and costume design deliver the characteristic anguish of this radically challenging form of theatre. The clash of colours, styles, movement and textures is striking and sometimes jarring. The set has aspects of both performance and installation art and the powerful imagery borders on being nightmarish and contorted. 

Yet ButohBAR also exhibits wry and whimsical humour. The soundscape and the singing are often haunting yet moving and evocative. This is interspersed with more upbeat tunes to accompany the highly stylised movement and dancing. This makes the show, paradoxically, warm and welcoming while maintaining its unpredictable edginess. ButohBAR playfully and artfully explores disorder, disruption, disarray without descending into chaos or nihilism. The performance space is extremely apt and captures the sense of decay, decline and neglect that encompasses the overall design of the show. 

The performers are wonderfully captivating and their commitment to their art is palpable and extremely admirable. Emma Bathgate, Hal Tanaka, Willow J Conway, Yumi Umiumare (ButohOUT! Ensemble 2023) work alongside Alex Moon, Alex Rouse, Cora Hughes, Ebem Toala, Elizabeth Nicholls, Em Kimber, Emma Fayelecaun, Holly Rowan, Jessie Ngaio, Kei Murakami, Michael Chia, Pauline Sherlock, Samantha Helps, Spira Stojanovik, Tania Perez and Taka Takiguchi (ButohOUT! 202 Ensemble). Together they operate as an intensely dispersed yet cohesive entity. ButohBAR also has scheduled guest performances by icons of the avant-garde: Maude Davey (17 November), Dan West (18 November) and Moira Finucane (19 November).

This is a production that delivers an exceptional, astonishing and absorbing Butoh experience. It is a unique and unforgettable event that will stimulate all your senses on a range of disturbing and delightful levels. 

Patricia Di Risio 

Images (from top): Jessie Ngaio, Yumi Umiumare, Yumi Umiumare, Em Kimber. Photographer: Vikk Shayen