For a small enclave of self-consciously avant-garde theatre-makers in Brisbane in the 1990s, Japanese theatre was a lodestar – an answer to what we saw as the moribund strictures of Australian naturalism. While in other theatre city-state-cultures this manifested in postdramatic director’s theatre or iconoclastic experimentation, the desire to escape the past in Brisbane turned inward, to the bodies of performers. Japanese actor training emphasised embodiment, presence, and intensive and passionate training, in particular through the influential writing of Tadashi Suzuki in The Way of Acting (1986 Suzuki, T. 1986. The Way of Acting: The Theatre Writings of Tadashi Suzuki. Translated and edited by J. T. Rimer. New York: Theatre Communications Group. [Google Scholar]). Suzuki’s training method has left its traces on almost all of the actor training academies in the city. It was at this time too that Hijikata’s dance of darkness, butoh, started to take root. In Brisbane, this apocalyptic, image-based form of physical expression became entangled with Suzuki’s method in the performative aesthetic life of the underground, and later, the main stages. The culture of physical training has had a profound impact on the making processes and the distinctive repertory of the city of Brisbane. This article explores this unique training and performance history from different perspectives in its diverse ecology as a way of understanding the hold and staying power of these traditions.

对于 1990 年代布里斯班的一小群自觉前卫的戏剧制作人来说，日本戏剧是一个地标——这是对我们所看到的澳大利亚自然主义垂死的束缚的一种回答。虽然在其他戏剧城邦文化中，这体现在后戏剧导演的戏剧或反传统的实验中，但在布里斯班逃离过去的愿望转向了内在的表演者的身体。日本演员的训练强调体现、临场感以及密集而充满激情的训练，特别是通过铃木忠在《演技之道》（1986 年）中颇具影响力的作品 铃木，T. 1986。演技之道：铃木忠的戏剧作品。由JT Rimer翻译和编辑。纽约：剧院通信集团。 [谷歌学术]）。铃木的训练方法几乎在市内所有的演员训练学院都留下了痕迹。也是这个时候土方的黑暗之舞butoh开始生根发芽。在布里斯班，这种世界末日的、基于图像的物理表达形式与铃木在地下表演美学生活中的方法以及后来的主要阶段纠缠在一起。体育锻炼文化对布里斯班市的制作过程和独特的剧目产生了深远的影响。本文从其多元生态中的不同角度探讨了这一独特的训练和表演历史，以了解这些传统的保持力和持久力。