Melbourne

February 4 - 26 2026

La Mama HQ

Melbourne February 4 - 26 2026 La Mama HQ

La Mama Presents An Antipodes Theatre Company Production Of

月を見る夜 MOONGAZING

BY MAKI MORITA

Cameron Steens - CREATIVE PRODUCER & MARKETING

There’s a search bar at your fingertips. but does it have the answers you need?

From the infinity of the internet to the fate of the stars, 月を見る夜 Moongazing looks at the systems we are now turning to for practical, emotional and spiritual guidance. A chance encounter between two women of the Japanese diaspora, young and old, kicks off an unlikely friendship. But as Tsukiko is drawn to the kind Chie, she seems to find herself with more questions than answers. Drawing from Noh, Japanese folktales and the digital realm, 月を見る夜 Moongazing is a meditation on the stories we inherit and the grief of witnessing familial and cultural ties dissipating in an increasingly atomised world.

Transitioning from active development on Back to Te Maunga into production, responsibilities included marketing, video content, ticketing, community engagement and assisting with venue activities while continuing to provide creative feedback.

★★★ "La Mama springs back to life with 月を見る夜 Moongazing – a bilingual play…modelled after the aesthetics of Noh theatre

…chronicle[s] the alienation wrought by being hyperconnected yet lonely, oversaturated with information yet suspended in a state of unknowing.

In movements informed by [Yumi] Umiumare under the direction of Ari Angkasa, the characters orbit one another in impeccably choreographed formations – languid and dreamlike, deliberate and precise.

Jack Whu’s elevated sound design, melding the elegance of guzheng – a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument – with 1980s synth beats is an extrapolation of the play’s central conceit, a through line between tradition and modernity.

Bewitching…[Yumi] Umiumare is a wonder to watch as she oscillates between jerky, horror-reminiscent spasms and hypnotic dancing

[Anna] Fujihara is beautifully pliable and porous as the boundaries between Tsukiko’s dreams and waking moments blur.

…by parsing the collective responsibility we have for one another, 月を見る夜 Moongazing imagines a generative mode of meaning-making that transcends the silos we’ve unwittingly built around ourselves. - The Age

"...a finely attuned production by Antipodes Theatre Company... a work that manages to unpack vast questions of modern existence"

"Directed with an assured, sensitive hand by Ari Angkasa…a production that feels both expansive and intimate"

"[Yumi] Umiumare is mesmerising to watch, whose movement deepens the ritualistic and emotional texture of the piece"

"Sean Yuen Halley brings deft versatility to multiple roles… his performance subtly underscores the play’s preoccupation with distance, whether that be emotional, digital and cosmic."

"Moongazing thoughtfully probes the alienation produced by modern life, examining how contemporary systems repackage closeness and erode genuine connection." - Australian Arts Review