Dance/Theatre

Butoh x Text

Seven patients in a white room, a spectrum of madness converge into a sharp white beam of deep love and humanity.

The White Room Research Collective (WRRC) and Hong Kong Repertory Theatre is proud to present “White Room”, Hong Kong’s first ever butoh-theatre production, which will take place from the 10-13 November as part of the International Black Box Festival 2016. This production has Yukio Waguri, a disciple of butoh founder Tatsumi Hijikata, directing. It also features critical acclaimed actress Bonni Chan, who won Best Actress in the 8th Hong Kong Theatre Libre Awards for her portrayal of madness in Psychosis 4.48 earlier this year.

Seven characters trapped in a white room
Set in an mental asylum, the seven characters, man A, man B, man C, woman A, woman B, woman C, woman D, all are inspired by Carl Jung’s clinical patients. Each in a plead to stand tall in the darkness. Their burning desires loom.

Butoh-Drama Methodology
Through the use of butoh-fu, the actors will develop a layered inner life of their character, each with their specific ailment. In doing so, the production hopes to pose the question of “what is normal” “What is madness”

Butoh-fu (舞踏譜) is a choreography method developed by Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of butoh; it uses paintings and words as a way to access a performer’s inner world and helps them to focus their energy. For example, the character of Woman C may be given the painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch as a source of inspiration. As she goes about her everyday actions and speaks her lines, she should also simultaneously sense the air around her distort and screaming; which in turn transforms the quality of her speech and movement.