Last Orders @ Traverse

The music begins; a liquid sound drips and bubbles throughout the auditorium. Figures emerge from what seems to be a ball on stage. They slip out of it languidly, their fluid movements interrupted by abrupt, sharp convulsions. It is hard to separate where one ends and another begins.

The Traverse theatre serves up Last Orders, the latest production by David Hughes. It explores cannibalism in the tale of Alexander 'Sawney' Bean, a garish man whose historical existence is not confirmed. Admittedly, the show does not have much of a narrative, as the focus wanders between primitive cannibalism and a modern nightclub setting. Yet it is - in another's words - a suggestion as to the character of the man that would perform such attrocities.

The performances presented are on point, intense and raw. Through the variations of pace and style in the dancing, as well as an interesting interpretation of 'Yummy Yummy Yummy (I got love in my tummy)' by Ohio Express, this production delves into the deranged darkness that is the mind of Sawney Bean. And yet, with a touch of Greek tragedy, there arrives a deus ex machina to dissolve the terror and bring the justice one expects and almost demands by the end of the tale.

Though the concept of cannibalism is disturbing, this show is like looking into a bottomless abyss; both terrifying and mesmerising. You cannot help but watch as three victims march in ritualistic fashion, one by one, to their deaths, animals to the slaughter. Belonging to both horror and dance genres, Last Orders holds up a mirror to those deepest, darkest, ugliest urges of mankind.