In this Flying Rabbit Circus production, Landyn Endo and Kapi Lee use dance and mime to break out of the constraints of gender…
When a male child is born in Hong Kong, a blue koi carp flag is flown; Landyn always wanted this, but was assigned female at birth so all they got was pretty hair bows and teddy bears. Rejecting these gender stereotypes, our protagonist grows up in boisterous play, getting in the way of his sibling, imagining himself as Ash from the Pokémon series and rejecting female clothing.
A literal box sits on the stage, representing how the M and F options confine us. Landyn and Kapi perform intricate acrobatics around and inside it, at times struggling to lift it off them; Landyn eventually making his own from white pipes.
The mesmerising moves are accompanied by a diverse soundtrack ranging from Mandopop to Judas Priest. It’s a fast-paced hour that gets to the heart of the trans experience; I was especially moved by the footage of young Landyn’s ballet lessons projected behind him, as his true self danced in front.
Box [M] vividly portrays the frustration and joys of growing up transgender with a fascinating blend of dance, acrobatics and mime.
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Box [M] is at theSpace Triplex from Aug 7-12 at 20:25.