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The Ode Islands review – a nightmarish head trip unlike anything on the fringe

Pleasance at EICC, EdinburghVisual artist Ornagh conjures a psychedelic, mixed-reality vision preoccupied with identity, sexuality and body imageWhat happens when theatre meets film? It is a question artists keep returning to. The West Country japesters of Forkbeard Fantasy talk about “crossing the celluloid divide”. Chile’s Teatro Cinema puts live actors in noirish settings. And cult favourite 1927 mixes real performers and retro animations.Now, with high-intensity colour, psychedelic landscapes and trippy imagination comes visual artist Ornagh and a show unlike any in Edinburgh. In The Ode Islands, she performs while sandwiched between two screens to give three-dimensional depth to her mixed-reality creations. A nightmarish vision of googly-eyed monsters, electric seas and an Alice in Wonderland sense of instability, it takes us on a fascinating digital journey, with Ornagh trapped in the midst of it all. Her stated interest is in freedom, even as she pulls us ever deeper into an imprisoning lair. Continue reading...

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