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In the Bushes

 
Mark Harding Review by Mark Harding 3 Published: 18 Aug 2025 Summerhall Show Dates: 13 Aug 2025-25 Aug 2025

In the Bushes is not so much “Nature, red in tooth and claw” as Nature, pink, with shits and giggles.

Like toddlers in a play group who have raided the dressing up box

Apparently, there’s a handout explaining that choreographer Léa Tirabasso’s inspirations for this show are Guy Debord’s work and Henry Gee’s critique of “human exceptionalism” (I confess I completely missed these references when I went). But it’s less bemusing to know a key theme is the animal reality that underlies human culture. The resulting show is surprisingly cheerful, warm, and funny.

The dancers are like toddlers in a play group who have raided the dressing-up box. The girls giggle incessantly (and infectiously), the boys are more sensitive and nervous. They dance in sync as a group, or, increasingly as the show continues, one of them has an amusing idea which others copy. Like toddlers, they like a bit of anarchy, and they like to laugh (a lot). They like to show off to each other – and to members of the audience. Their combination of vulnerability and simple enjoyment wins the audience over from the get-go.

We see a sort of random development: they discover singing and practical jokes, explore sensations such as cuddling, slapping bottoms, kissing and nudity, develop rituals for the dead, and finally learn to pretend.

The performers are superb in clowning, physical theatre, dancing, and sheer energy. I can’t imagine how they can even smile for such a length of time.

It’s a show full of absurdity, silliness, and fun. Weirdly, you feel there’s also a lot of truth.

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The Blurb:

One of Europe's most exciting female choreographic voices comes into its own, in this uncompromising and surrealistic piece. Plunged into an absurd world, In the Bushes celebrates the incomprehensible and magnificent contradictions of life. Quirky and witty, it mocks the idea that we are exceptional and questions our humanity with ferocious joy. 'Masterfully choreographed’ (BroadwayWorld.com) 'Powerful' (WritingAboutDance.com).