The Asylum

Circus of Horrors
Empire Theatre (20th November 2007)

Reviewed by John Owen

Home of the criminal minds absent.

In publicity free zone the Circus of Horrors camped up the whole issue of what it is to be criminal and insane, letting the lunar-antics take over and claim the asylum.

In the reclaimed Saint Remy’s institute of Van Gogh’s sanatorium, a bizarre collection of freaks and perverts perform burlesque to heavy rock backdrop. The positively insane and quite mad with a likkle bit of power Dr Haze oversees the lunacy and leering perversion of his inmates.

The gimps, geeks and weirdoes question the eyes and senses with bizarre assaults on themselves, abusing and torturing like there’s no tomorrow, this is care in the community done Marquis de Sade style.

Not a plot in sight or a content to be thought over deeply, but unconsciously I couldn’t help thinking that the mad professor of suction, the pierced man and his holes, the alligator man, the female contortionist and fire-eaters burlesque hotties doing the cancan and pole dancing throughout might have been a snapshot of Victorian eccentricities.

If you after a good night out go, if you want to be offended go. If you think life’s too short to argue go, and if you need to go, go for crying out loud, the rubber room awaits.

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