I love the dancing performances at the Peacock Theatre so I thought I’d introduce Rita and Rache to something a little different. Insane in the Brain is the title of the dance unit Bounce’s interpretation of a hip hop version of the classic story “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” The story, set in a mental asylum, and its characters provide a rich backdrop for a number of creative interpretative pieces. It was so popular it came around the first time last year that it was back at the Peacock Theatre for another telling.

Bonce is a dance collective recently responsible for a Michael Jackson tribute in Stockholm. You can catch it here:

Its pretty cool!

But back to Insane in the Brain. The show opens with five dancers who are identity-less but for the white masks on their faces. Playing with our perceptions the dancers deliver a number that has them presenting their backs as their fronts and their fronts as their backs. This way we are slowly introduced to the mental hospital and its inmates who are struggling to find a way to rebel against the mean head Nurse Ratched and her crew of “heavies.” Entering the scene is a man who has faked insanity to escape a prison term and after this the hospital is never the same again.

The show is a bit hit and miss but mainly hit. And when the dance numbers hit you will be amazed and impressed. Not only are the cast supremely talented but the pieces, choreography and use of the set, are innovative, brilliant and great fun.

It would be difficult to explain the dance pieces but they ranged from what appeared to be a simple set up but actually required an amazing amount of skill and concentration – people in their bed dancing but the moves required and muscle control and strength required to keep the timing right and energy up must have bee incredible – to innovate use of the set – such as the dancing down a leaning wall and nearly falling to their faces on the ground. For example, for most of this last dance the dancers were practically 90 degrees to the ground! There was another dance piece which involved a guy dancing on crutches, there was a bollywood scene, there was this amazing rock and roll segment which was WAY loud but high impact. The dancers at one stage even “escaped” into the audience to “watch a film”. The film was one of the misses of the show I thought. Although it was cool to see the dancing on the film it went on for way too long.

Over all Insane in the Brain was entertaining and worth the ticket entry. Fantastic soundtrack too!