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MOSH review: Five dancers take up the stage in ways that are both powerful and sexy

Dublin Fringe Festival 2023: This is a show for anyone who has ever moshed and for those who haven’t

MOSH. Rachel Ni Bhraonáin. Image by Richard Mooney and Luke Carparelli, Dublin Fringe Festival 2023

MOSH is an exploration of mosh culture, the much-maligned, misunderstood collective space. Photograph: Richard Mooney/Luke Carparelli

Kate Demolder
Fri Sep 15 2023 - 09:21

MOSH

Project Arts Theatre – Space Upstairs

★★★★★

Smoke ascends from the Space Upstairs stage, revealing a drum kit, guitar, two musicians and an amp as a full crowd of punters posit why disposable earplugs have been handed out before the first performance of MOSH, the new show by Rachel Ní Bhraonáin. It soon becomes clear. MOSH is an exploration of mosh culture, the much-maligned, misunderstood collective space, thought by many to be violent and antisocial.

Opening with drums, the five cast members (who are exceptional) explode on to the stage in a flurry of bodies, potent bursts of energy and passionate releases – each detailing, at different times, the role of a mosher; the etiquette when being shoved by thousands of people; and those to avoid (swearing is used) when engaging in this very public, yet personal, act. Their depictions, both in words and dance, are moving and, dare I say, romantic, entirely turning the genre on its head for anyone green with mosh immaturity.

At many times, the group submerges itself within each other, offering simply an enmesh of tangled bodies in ways that feel safe and consensual. During one particularly striking monologue, the sole female cast member speaks about how moshing gives her a sense of safety not found at bus stops, work or in her own bedroom.

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The most powerful element of MOSH is difficult to decipher, such was the excellence across the board: lighting, sound, interviews with former moshers and, of course, the five dancers who take up the stage in ways both powerful and sexy. This is a show for anyone who has ever moshed and for those who haven’t. And, most of all, for anyone who has never understood the appeal of moving as one with thousands of others.

Continues at Project Arts Theatre, as part of Dublin Fringe Festival, until Sunday, September 17th

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