Brighton Festival – Monsters & Prodigies

The stuff of festivals in my mind has to contain provocative and dangerous works like this extraordinary show from Mexico. A staged polemic on the history and morality of castrati was never going to be an easy ride but they certainly gave it, forgive me, balls. Beautiful, bold, brash, abrasive… I was at times lost in the words and at others lost for words. And there were perhaps too many words racing over the stage as surtitles. But my god it had energy and anger and humour too. I loved it and I found it irritating in equal part. And above all it satisfied that need to see something that was not a guaranteed good night out and for that I applaud it. If you want to know what it’s about go see it, to tell more here would destroy it, and if you can’t get to this then get to El Gallo which promises to be equally startling.

Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, 24 May

[Ratings:5/5}
Andrew Kay