The Demonstration Hall at Summerhall is an ideal venue for this wordless, solo circus/dance piece, in which Zinnia Oberski gives a striking physical display in a short but effective slice of performance art. On a floor covered with earth, Oberski climbs onto a trapeze where she swings naked in front of the audience as a Wild Woman, a feral child and more. Her balance is affected by the appearance of a strange and sinister, black-horned animal-skull which Oberski seems initially to recoil from, but eventually comes to wear as a mask.

^{Pictures: Paul Maguire}

Although the title isn’t directly referenced, the jumping-off point is how we might see ourselves, and how that primal sense of self is altered by our understanding of the world around us to bring a new, evolved being into existence. Directed by Ellie Dubois for the Scissor Kick company, it’s a striking piece, even if older viewers may find that the shows visuals are oddly reminiscent of the covers of old Dennis Wheatley paperbacks. But although the iconography dabbles in an occult, pagan symbolism, this is very much a show about women and their sense of themselves, fully articulated through some jaw-dropping physical dexterity. 

Reviewed at Summerhall as part of Edinburgh Fringe.