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   Web Issue 3503 July 4 2009   
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Performance: Peeping at Bosch, Tramway
MARY BRENNANJuly 14 2008

Star Rating: ****

"Hop on and hop off," said the man, as he handed out the hats - silvery funnels, actually - and pointed towards a revolving carousel sporting various mythic beasties instead of the usual hobby-horses.

Hop on, and you gained access to what lay behind the crimson curtains: a performance-installation conjuring up the realms of Eden, Earth and Hell as depicted in Hieronymus Bosch's sixteenth-century masterpiece, The Garden of Earthly Delights, as envisioned by Ian Smith and his Mischief La-Bas collaborators.

Eden saw Flo and Alex Rigg, a near-naked Adam and Eve, performing slow Butoh-inflected circuits round a painted tree. These gestures revealed awakening senses and shifting states of fear and awe as night followed day - onlookers sprawled on cushions found the upholstery was reciting Genesis.

It was hard to leave Eden, and such a mesmerisingly beautiful performance - but Earthly delights awaited, with a sensory overload of exquisitely painted scenery, little "snuggle pods" where hugs were on offer and the emphasis was on pleasure.

Hell next - and hilariously wicked torture machines where the greedy got their bums skelped if audience members cranked a handle. Which we did, with glee and - apparently - no remorse or guilt at inflicting possible pain.

Like everything in this exceptional, meticulously crafted spectacle there was a serious side to the fun if you looked, and listened - it was very Bosch, and very Mischief La-Bas.


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