Dust Covered Butterfly

Overview

Art imitates life in Dust Covered Butterfly, but this performance work delves into deeper and darker territory than most. Here, three unlikely protagonists — the Captive, the Captor and the Bait — are locked in a basement for a morally challenging, survival-of-the-fittest ride.

There's a reason it sounds a bit like something ripped out of the news — along with The Collector by John Fowles, that's partly where director Thomas Hutchins and actor Michael Whittred took their inspiration from. When they first created the piece in 2013, the Ariel Castro kidnappings were in the headlines. The horrific case sent the duo into a spiral of research through other real-life circumstances.

They're not the first to have followed this path, though the end result of their efforts looks a tad bit bleaker and bolder than similarly themed TV sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Prepare for a stripped-back contemplation of love, power and freedom in experimental theatrical form, accompanied by haunting live original music.

Image by Morgan Roberts Photography.