The Ego ★★★★

Two beautiful, charming Belgian women, Anemone Valcke and Verona Verbakel, invite their audience into a small studio space in the Zoo Playground and as a welcome, provide Lotus biscuits on a napkin – they’re from Belgium. This is a mixed media presentation with use of a large screen and plenty of music. To begin, they explain that their show isn’t really about Ego but if they had explained what the subject matter really was, it might have been a harder sell.

In the first place their story is told gently – a few comic stories about a poo that wouldn’t flush or more poignantly, the day of filming that is cancelled after a 160km round trip. As they progress, taking it in turns to reveal part of their history, it becomes darker and harder to hear. They have been actors since childhood, accustomed to being on set with much older actors – famous ones who have well-known names. And sadly, there have been the men who have made most of the decisions which have governed their lives, whilst their voices have been shouting without being heard.

These are talented performers – they have succeeded where others have not and have even received nominations for great awards where all the other nominees have been male – but they haven’t yet won. This is the element which flags the ego of the title. But still, this is not at the heart of the matter. Valcke and Verbakel give us permission to assume that they are thin skinned and seeking of attention, wanting validation and pity, whereas in fact they are covertly and determinedly revealing a rotten core of a business which is abusive and transgressive towards women once its layers are peeled back.

In the intimate space, the hardest parts of the story are told in film clips – the vigorous erotic dances which represent an awful abuse of power is only slightly easier to watch at this remove. Ending their presentation dressed as shrimps – yes quite a leap but strangely affecting – it is clear that these are not actors seeking outrage or even sympathy, they are just doing their bit to expose some of the injustices of the industry they inhabit.