Le Jet de Sang
The Phoenix Artist Club
17th August 2014

★★★★☆

Most of the plays in this year's Camden Fringe have at least one thing in common - an attempt at a clear narrative structure. Give an audience a plot to unravel and they're in their comfort zone. We all know where we are with a good plot. However, Le Jet de Sang is a 1925 short play written by Antoin Artaud, who was one of the biggest names in the Theatre of Cruelty movement. This style deliberately has no narrative structure to follow; Artaud was very much about emotion. David Lynch Live, if you like. Although this isn't a word-for-word staging, what director Mike Miller has done is capture that ethos perfectly.

It's a clever adaptation, but A Spurt of Blood is not the most accessible of plays to put it mildly. Given how short it is, I've read and re-read the original French text several times now, and I can warn you, the source material isn't any less bizarre. If anything, it's weirder. In Miller's version, we start with what seems to be French mime - actresses with full porcelain cartoonish masks move silently around the space, their fixed expressions unhappy and the music evoking sadness. It feels serious, and it is, but the tone is abruptly suspended by a staged vicious exchange of words between one of the performers and the venue staff. It's definitely not pure Artaud, but it's deliberately uncomfortable, and we're caught in the middle of it all.

As suddenly as the interruption starts, it's over, and you can't help but wonder if it really happened, or if you're starting to hallucinate. This is a common thought process during the show - is it real, or are we on an acid trip? One of the actresses is constantly blowing up balloons to enhance her cleavage - it's almost like a strange style of sad clowning. It's also not necessarily the most surreal part - there are lots of odd moments to choose from; I'll let you pick your own favourite.

The venue is set out cabaret style, with the performers frequently retreating into the audience, not only passing the time between scenes, but continuing the show from in and amongst us. Rather than gimmicky, it serves to make the show feel all the more intense. It may take time to verbalise your immediate reaction to the play, but you're guaranteed to feel something very strongly, even if that sentiment is mainly shock. Mind you, when it comes to the Theatre of Cruelty, words really aren't the be all and end all. Actresses Francesca Foley, Ariadne Terizakis, Caroline Basra and Lucy George have little dialogue, but they still succeed at making us feel, putting in accomplished performances.

A lot of people will undoubtedly find Le Jet de Sang a difficult piece of theatre to like, and that's probably why it's not staged very often. Truth be told, whilst I could see how clever this production is, I struggled to enjoy it. But there's no denying that it's executed well, and Theatre Arte have come up with something deliciously surreal and mad; something chaotic of which Artaud would almost certainly approve. Despite the age of the original play, this is probably the most experimental work in this year's Camden Fringe - take that, young'uns. A dead French guy is beating you hands down in the crazy stakes.

If you're looking for something easy and light-natured, this isn't it. However, Le Jet de Sang is edgy and intelligent, and promises a theatrical experience which you just won't get anywhere else. Accept you're in for one hell of a ride and pull up a chair.

Le Jet de Sang opened on 15th August and runs until 23rd August 2014 at the Phoenix Artist Club, as part of the Camden Fringe.

Nearest tube station: Tottenham Court Road (Northern, Central)