Are the costumes deliberately austere?

The costumes, in general, are humble. Usually made of scraps of fabric and old kimonos, bits of dried weeds, bamboo sticks and paper. In my production, the woman who has lost her son has managed to do a lot with these elements. She has animated them. The cloak is huge rectangle in yellow fabric. But it becomes many other things. And the sticks are strips of bamboo. But they become an extension of her mind. At times an extension of her body or another creature. Butoh is often very innovative with costumes. They can do amazing things with very little. What about the boat that appears on stage? That section deals with the mother being able to speak to the spirit of the child before it goes to the Other World. In Japan, there is an annual festival called Obon celebrated in remembrance of the spirit of the ancestors. It is usually in August. At the end, people put candles in paper boats and float them on the river to signify that they are sending the spirits back to the Other World. Would ...  more