Colour-Fool

Colour-Fool is a bold theatrical experiment which explores the confusion and anxiety that characterises the new normal in a global pandemic context. Yumi Umiumare orchestrates an environment which is everything but normal and this a recurrent thread throughout the entire performance. It quickly becomes clear to expect the unexpected. 

The boundaries of art and performance are blurred as are the boundaries between performers and audience. The mise-en-scene is carefully crafted through the promenade style staging along with fascinating and aesthetically astute features of roving and digital installations. The scenario is ominous yet uncanny and echoes the disturbing reality of a world gripped by pandemic measures.

Umiumare begins with what seems like a very bizarre personal experience of hotel quarantine and makes incredible use of the paper bags used for food delivery to create a set which is abnormal yet familiar. The piece becomes quite mysterious as normality takes on increasingly frightening qualities. The stylised and ritualistic aspects of various Japanese art and and theatrical traditions are a clear inspiration for the performance. However the show makes significant departures from these traditions and takes the audience on a hallucinatory journey which is occupied by an eclectic and incongruous collection of characters and imagery. These elements sometimes collide and at other times find an unnerving cohesion. 

The mood often borders on the surreal as the combination of sound and movement are deliberately jarring. The overall colourful effect is simultaneously striking and shocking. Given the very raw nature of the material the show could easily be accompanied by stronger trigger warnings. Colour-Fool may appear to be merely quirky and jaded but the performance ends on a surprisingly upbeat note. 

Embracing abnormality and all its associated dysfunction can turn out to be an incredibly pleasant and celebratory experience. But this show also clearly illustrates how making that leap is a process that is inevitably fraught with high levels of psychological intensity.

Patricia Di Risio 

Photographer: Vikk Shayen.