To be judged, ridiculed and humiliated for your body feels like part of the age we live in now. In Kafka’s story, the maestro has elevated self-starvation to a high art, albeit one that has sunk in popularity; where once Europe’s grandest theatres were filled with audiences eager to watch his 40 days’ “hungering”, now he sits starving in an American circus yard among the animals and peddlars. In this solo show, puppetry and audience involvement are skilfully employed to capture the ambiguous, allegorical feel of the story. The hunger artist and his sleazy manager are portrayed by Jonathan Levin in a virtuoso solo performance of astonishing dexterity, though the production design doesn’t quite manage to excite as Levin does.

ZOO, until 28 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Alexander Hartley]