Mentally ill: physically fine

Insane in the Brain, Peacock Theatre
****

There’s not much room for examination of the mental state in Insane in the Brain, a street dance version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

But that’s because it’s all about the body. The skill and energy of Bounce, a Swedish dance company, is breathtaking. The angular and unpredicatable moves of street dance (performed to a soundtrack that includes Missy Elliot and Cypress Hill) create an impressive physical representation of the mind in disarray.

The inventive opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the show. On an eerily lit stage, the dancers are dressed in baggy clothes and white masks. When they turn round, there are masks on the other side too and, disorientatingly, you realise you were watching the dancers’ backs.

There are a string of visually stunning sequences. An obsessive compulsive routine is transformed into a complex dance on the hospital beds; bungee jumping performers create a convincing impression of electric shock therapy.

One weak link is Nurse Radcliffe, who is meant to be an iceberg of fear; but the dancer has no chill her presence and her dancing is less impressive than the rest of the cast.

The tragedy at the end of the show is not handled well. It is rushed and, unless you are familiar with the story, it’s not completely clear what has happened.

Dancing is the strength of the cast, so it is lucky that speech is kept to a minimum. When McMurphy arrives at the hospital, the acting is unconvincing. There are no more words after this and there is really no need for it – their bodies do the work of a thousand mouths.

As Ronan Keating says, ”You say it best when you say nothing at all”.