In the Company of Shadows

In the Company of Shadows was an innovative contemporary performance work which invited an intimate audience (of four patrons per show) to join Zen Zen Zo for a sleepover. During the evening the audience was welcome at the family home for pre-bed games and supper, after which time they were taken into the master bedroom where they journeyed (on a gigantic bed) through a surreal night of dreams, fantasies and nightmares. Each intimate audience pre-selected the tone of their night’s dreaming – playful and edgy OR sensual and sublime. Featuring 11 Zen Zen Zo performers, 1 Dairakudakan solo Butoh dancer, and 4 Deep Blue Orchestra musicians, this innovative new work pushed the formic boundaries of both intimate and immersive live performance. Further, as a major practice-led research project, it explored the Cultural Translation of Maro Akaji’s Temputenshiki Butoh in the work of Brisbane-based Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre.Physical Description: 2 hoursPhilip Parson's Prize: Best Performance as Research Work in Australia in 2016Director: Lynne Bradley; Designer: Bill Haycock; Lightning Designer: David Walters; Musical Director: Wayne Jennings; Multimedia Designer: Nevin Howell; Choreographers: Lynne Bradley, Melissa Budd, Drew der Kinderen, Yuyama Daiichiro. Produced by Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre with Deep Blue Orchestra and QUT Creative Industries.First performed: The Loft, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, 6-9 April 201