hell ain't such a bad place to be after all

reviewed pure hellthe stand, glasgowat the stand, edinburgh on October 30HHH

REVIEWED

HELL, as we all know, is other people. There are so many of them, and they all have conflicting desires. Razor Octopus, the "collective of 23 full-on artistes" behind Pure Hell, is a case in point. They include musicians, film-makers, actors, puppeteers, comedians, performance poets and singers, and have come together to create this Halloween cabaret, based around sin and the inferno.

It's a theme as eternal as damnation, and no less fascinating - the evening's compendium of short performances and films certainly includes some entertaining material. The Jim Henson-style Beelzebub puppet makes an engaging compere, though his sketch with God about their respective sex lives wears a little thin. Impressionistic introductory movies by Glenda Rome are also enjoyable, and Neil MacArthur's barbed metal, played on a Prince-ish swirl of a guitar, helps create a searing atmosphere.

Mark Penak, director and convenor of this cabaret coven, performs one of the highlights: a monologue that explores the Grim Reaper's administrative difficulties.

Some pieces take a rather tangential approach to the subject matter. A cappella trio The 101 Damnations make ironically pretty work of the Sex Pistols' Anarchy In The UK, even if its only relevance is that iconic opening line, "I am an anti-Christ"; while Angeline Ferguson's attractive animated film Trees is damnable only insofar as she has stamped her copyright on almost every frame.

A couple of other acts struggle to breathe fire into this dungeon of devilish delights - Anita Govan's artfully sculpted poems, for example, would probably benefit from a less demonic ambience. And one or two acts are frankly pretty hellish - but let's spare their lost souls everlasting punishment. There may be an excess of stylistic variety, but Penak keeps the entertainment bubbling forward at a fairly wicked pace, so our time spent in the Underworld is no eternity of torments.

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