Conceptual comedy where the performer said nothing but “what the fuck is this?” for an hour. It had everything – comedy, tragedy; pathos, logos, ethos; a sprinkling of postmodernism. It brought to animated life how much can be communicated with just five words when the deceit of interpretation is broken down to its theory-laden fundamental components through a pre-structuralist approach to socio-linguistics. And, once you buy into the concept of a five-word show, it’s a lot of fun. It was striking how much physical contact there was through the performance but it emphasised that discarding language (and associated differences such as race) and relying on normal human curiosity paradoxically brings people closer together.

Banshee Labyrinth, until 24 Aug.
tw rating 5/5 | [Tom Bragg]