There's been passing mention of a show called Primal Bog here before, and tonight was the first night of its ten-night residency at the Soho Theatre in London (and that's the UK London, not the Ontario one). I think a lot of people here would enjoy it and you should consider going if it's practical. If London isn't practical, it's being staged again in Helsinki in March and in Cardiff in May.

It has one speaking performer, that of Rosa Garland herself. Rosa performs the first third and the last third of the show completely naked, and - as advertised - covers herself with perhaps a gallon or so of slippery, thick orange Messy Supplies gunge, and performs the whole show without cleaning it off. The room used at the Soho theatre seats perhaps 80 or so, with the front row given ponchos to wear, but only out of an abundance of caution. There is only one passing form of audience interaction, when we are invited to offer questions early on, but these are often batted away very quickly.

Yes, you see the whole of the female body. It feels more naturist than titillating, though, even as someone for whom this is a fetish; maybe I'm just old and jaded, or maybe I've just seen so much that the wonder is gone. A variety of videos are played in the background, including (at one point) excerpts from the "310 Ladies Slimed and Gunged" video that you've probably seen already.

So that's one sense in which Rosa gets it... or, more specifically, gives it to herself. The show is an extended sketch exploring a few recurring themes: an analogy to a very well-known wellness megastar, lots of references to worms, and incorporation of other fetishes that are not part of WAM as it is understood here but where there's a degree of crossover interest. The stagecraft is very satisfying, with a prominently placed bucket establishing a pleasing take of what is not quite Chekhov's Gunge but is as close as you'll get; the snow nails the ending in a very satisfying fashion.

Rosa describes the show as "a clown show about queer kink", which is a joyous starting-point, but "deals with the process of learning to embrace, interrogate and move through your own desire". And this is the other sense in which Rosa truly gets it, and she pushes conventional taboos to achieve her goals. (Which ones? That'd spoil the surprise, and the effect may be better if you're not spoiled for it. If you're concerned about it, you can find most of the details in other reviews.) What a brilliant thing to try to do. Most of the mainstream media use escalated language about how shocking the show is, but I don't think it scared too many metaphorical horses in practice, even among people who haven't trodden these paths before.

The most negative criticism I would give of this is that the clowning was more effective for me than the storytelling, and this is quite a dis that I am sorry to have to offer. The parts that are funny and done for their own sake landed for me; the parts which try to explore the premises raised in Rosa's article about the show require much more interpretation and are not made desperately explicit, in what is a proudly explicit show. It feels personal without ever feeling earnest. There's passing mention of sexuality, but it's not hammered home; it's not targeted specifically at any combination of gender and Kinsey scale value. That said, I imagine there are lady-lovin' ladies on here who will find this a thoroughly delightful representation of themselves and their desires, that they would never have expected to see.

The show doesn't feel quite there yet to me, but I don't think that's a fault with the show, it's because I wanted it to go to a different place than Rosa did; Rosa's evidently happy with what she's created, and there's a lot to love already. You should support her, not least to see where she goes next, because her heart is absolutely in the right place and she's pushing things at least as hard as anybody else out there. It's easily good enough that I'm considering going back for more.