From November 23-24, Eaton HK hosted the Movement Festival. The 24-hour festival hosted featured a diverse and eclectic range of dance and movement performances, stretching from traditional ballet and contemporary dance to theater and conceptual performances. Amongst the performances for the day were Agnes Perri and Reggie Yip who debuted their piece Isn't This Just Devine, Ethel ? The playful and  interactive mask performance explores the journey into the world of the illuminous Ethels, masked shimmering beings who desire cheekily and bask in the pleasure of limelight. But, what happens when they are forced to reckon with the creature that lives under their shells? Developed from an original mythic creation story, drawing upon concepts of folk practices and myths, this piece explores the relationship between being witnessed and witnessing, and how it pertains to who we are. 

Agnes and Reggie recently took to the road having been invited to perform the piece at Vrystaat Arts Festival 2025 in Bloemfontein, South Africa and Theatre Renaissance Cabaret Festival 2025 in Lilongwe, Malawi. We spoke with them about how the performance has evolved as well as how it was received abroad. 

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Going into Eaton HK's Movement Festival, what was the main idea that you wanted to express with your piece?

First and foremost, we wanted the work to be fun! Being an interactive mask piece, we definitely wanted audiences to share in a very immediate sense of play with us. In a sense, ‘Isn’t this just divine, Ethel’ asks as much of the spectator as it does the performer. The colorful masked characters can rely just as much on how they are responded to in order to guide the direction of the work as they would themselves. While these aspects could make the work appear solely novel to some, the work itself thematically explores vulnerability, wonder, and the complexities of witnessing and being witnessed. I hope the softness within the work was experienced by those who came to watch us during the movement fest.

The masks were obviously a big part of the performance. Can you tell us about the process of making them and what you used to construct them?

Making that mask changed my practice. It was equally challenging as it was (very) fun! The bases are made from felt and bamboo, with later influence from Chinese bamboo mask-making techniques acquired during our time training with Theatre de La Feuille under the Traditional & Contemporary Physical Training Program under master Louis To Wun. We then added felt to the base and went on to design their appearances. Having acquired an assorted array of store-bought and home-found craft and stationary supplies, we both sort of followed our instincts and designed what we could based on what we had, and the rest is history.

Was that your first time concealing your face for a performance, and were there any challenges around that?

This was the first time concealing my face to this degree for a performance, in that not only my face but the entirety of my head and neck was covered. It was a learning curve for me to move with that kind of weight and to perform and stay present through a complete shift in senses, air pressure, temperature. You definitely have to focus and remember the whole rest of your body that’s visible and remain reactive to audience members in front of you.

So you took this piece on the road to Africa? How did the invite come about? What’s the name of the festival?

Yes, we did, and it was nothing short of an incredible time for us! Following an initial successful application to present our work at Theatre Renaissance Cabaret Festival in Malawi, we reached out to our South African network within Hong Kong to see whether there were further opportunities to perform during our time in Africa, and were then invited to perform at Vrystaat Kunstefees in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

How did the performance evolve since November when you debuted it at Eaton HK? What things had you planned to add and omit?

The piece has certainly evolved since its debut in November. We’ve since developed two separate formats that the piece follows (one that is “roving” and another that follows a more structured through-line similar to its debut but longer) in order to adjust and respond to whatever setting we may perform in. We’ve added lots of cheeky actions within the structure to bolster audience interaction in settings that follow a more traditional theatre setup (e.g. performing to a sitting audience), which are omitted in settings that are less traditional (e.g. in public, at a market, etc). At the core, our objective to play and connect has remained consistent through the piece’s evolution.

What was the response from the audience in South Africa? Did they interpret the mask differently to the HK audience?

Universally, the masks always yield reactions of surprise and curiosity. However, I hadn’t realized the extent to which masks can hold specific significance and meaning to different cultural groups, affecting how they could respond. In HK, masks are associated with the likes of lion and dragon dancing, in which our cultural practice is to gather and engage in rituals of blessings and garnering good fortune with the performers. Contrastingly, we learned of Malawi’s renowned practice of mask performance, “Gule Wamkulu”, performed by the Nyau caste of the Chewa. Believed to be manifestations/channels/portals for spiritual beings, spectators are expected to run away from the Gule Wamkulu for fear of being chased. Imagine our surprise when during our performance at a village market in Ponta Mali, Lilongwe, audiences kept running away every time we came close!

Were there any improvised movements that came out of their reaction?

As part of an outreach program through Theatre Renaissance Cabaret (Malawi), we were invited to perform at a women's prison in Lilongwe. I remember there being one woman at the front of the audience, and when it came time for us to interact with one another, we danced using our hands together, and she giggled openly, without abandon, as we continued. It was a very soft moment that allowed for me to activate a much more gentle quality to how I continued to move throughout the rest of the performance, and with the rest of the audience for the remainder of the show.

How would you describe the differences in how freely you can move your body in HK vs. in other places?

As a cross-cultural team, we strive to transcend international borders through activating freedom in physical movement. We’ve found that this work manages to catalyse mutual play between us and the audience regardless of cultural context. However, we were particularly moved by how forthcoming and generous people were throughout our performances in Africa. Without much prompting, we were struck by how immediately responsive and playful audiences were to us physically. We were so bolstered by how expressive they were in reaction to us that it often paved the way for us to move with more and more freedom throughout our run. It was one of the most fulfilling consistencies throughout our time there, and we can’t wait to go back to experience that again.

What do you two have planned next?

We are currently working on a new mask and puppetry piece for all ages - we can’t reveal too much yet, but it will be a story with adventure, animals, and love. Follow us @junotheatre or get in contact to know more! As an emerging company, we have lots of plans and are keen to connect with our community. It was such a pleasure for our debut work to happen at Eaton, and for said work to already be reaching international stages. We can’t wait for the more that is to come.