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Image: Jeff Busby

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POSTED: 04 SEPTEMBER 2009

En Trance, created and performed by Yumi Umiumare

(Malthouse Theatre | Tower Theatre, CUB Malthouse, Southbank, Melbourne | Until 13 September)

There is nothing half-hearted about Yumi Umiumare.

And this is curious indeed, because En Trance reads on paper like an undergraduate memoir, but on stage is something very different entirely. Umiumare lures us aboard what looks like the Ferris Wheel, but once the doors are shut, you realise, too late, you are on the Bullet Train.

When I discovered that the unofficial motto of Butoh theatre is something like “expect the unexpected”, I found myself entering the theatre with a mix of dread and hypersensitivity, my wine glass gripped almost too firmly, ready to be deployed in the event of emergency.

But I needn’t have been so apprehensive.

Umiumare has created an honest and impressive work that looks at how we piece together an understanding of life and death. Over six distinct chapters, she encourages us to build our own picture of the world she inhabits. With no conventional narrative, nothing is for free in this performance. We’re expected to engage, and that is one of its strengths.

Umiumare cleverly opens by revealing vital vulnerabilities and this is how she forms the bond with the audience that is so crucial to the success of the subsequent chapters. An artistic collaboration with dramaturge Moira Finucane has no doubt helped produce some of the more thrilling episodes, but the attention to sensitivity makes that all the more potent.

It’s probably here I should mention the fine work of sound designer Ian Kitney. From the relentless, throbbing cityscape to the scything electronica or the gentle kanji rain, Kitney’s sound is gut-wrenchingly good. I almost asked for a soundtrack to take home.

There is some neat imagery here too and the media effects, while sometimes a little overused, are generally quite well produced. The TV monitor that doubles as a facemask not only amuses but points to a more sophisticated rendering of the grotesquery that Butoh is famous for.

Little on stage goes to waste in En Trance, and the use of traditional fan-like designs — that hang from the ceiling and unravel to reveal a series of stepped, stringed curtains — is inspired.

The real star of the show unsurprisingly is Umiumare. Her muscular body, seemingly slight and soft suddenly transforms into an almost Amazonian presence and she deftly embodies a myriad of human characteristics. Dance and controlled movement are clearly her strengths and the bodily command she displays is superior. Umiumare’s face though is just as extraordinary and expressive when she employs it.

By and large this is a full and frank show, although there are some moments where less would have been more. Strangely too, the part that should be the easiest to engage with — a karaoke rendition — proves the least compelling.

If conceptual theatre is not really your cup of tea, this may not be one for you. If you want to branch out to something a little different, there’s plenty in En Trance to keep you occupied throughout the hour and a half — particularly some of the tantalising staging and costume novelties.

There may be nothing half-hearted about Yumi Umiumare’s performance, but in keeping with Butoh’s promise, there’s nothing predictable either.

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