Review: WILD BORE, Soho Theatre
Three women place their naked bums on a table and speak through them into a microphone. Literally talking out of their arses, they enter into a prolonged rant detailing how terrible the show is meant to be, using text from critics who have seen it previously. And any resemblance to these critics, living or dead, is purely intentional - or is it?
Through their avant-garde artistic practice, Zoe Coombs Marr, Ursula Martinez and Adrienne Truscott have amassed a fair amount of poor reviews. For the first time they have teamed together to throw some punches back our way. As well as sourcing from critics, their speech also comes from a collection of Facebook arguments, internet comment threads, and bad tweets.
It's theatre about theatre about theatre - I could go on, but I'm slightly nervous that I'll make it into the show. But I also kind of want that to happen - it's a really thrilling idea to think of. This is the show that divided opinion in Edinburgh, and one that puts the whole notion of critiquing up for discussion.
Critics are scary, rude, narcissistic and full of themselves. They're clever, cultured and well-educated. They are understanding, forward-thinking and your advocate. Perhaps they are all of the above, or none of them. You give someone a five-star review and you're their best friend; give them only one and you're a dish of evil served on a plate.
I mention food because there's a lot of it. The buttocks faces consume beef, noodles, chocolate, nuts and sausages, before they eventually poop them out. It's vulgar, but it doesn't feel shocking. You sort of expect anything to happen in this show.
Wild Bore has achieved every numbered star rating as possible, and they're all justified. The show is wild, but it's also boring, yet the trio are unapologetic for this. There's a lot of hype surrounding the piece, and rightly so. It's a fascinating experiment, which in my opinion is successful.
So see it and come up with your own opinion - just try not to be an arsehole about it.
Wild Bore at the Soho Theatre until 16 December
Photo Credit: Tim Grey
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