REVIEW: Bog Body at Etcetera Theatre 31 Oct - 2 Nov 2025
‘Everybody wants to see a scary story at Halloween; they got what they came for.’ ★★★
Halloween, and what more appropriate subject to start with than a whole load of dead bodies. Archaeology may be a bit on the dry side for some but murder conjures up a more gripping subject for all.
However, this performance started off as a formal lecture on the subject of the archaeology of bog bodies, so convincing that for a moment I thought I had misread something and ended up in the wrong place. We were fed interesting info about bog bodies being murdered or sacrificed and preserved in acidic peat bogs. Then came the mention of ‘the curse’ and echoes of Tutankhamen rang out as we discovered the fate of people involved with the bog body. The body on the mortuary slab in the background looking for all the world like the proverbial ghost under the white sheet, was if you like, Alfred Hitchcock’s revolver so it was just a case of when would it go off?
After a brief interactive element where the audience was invited to tell of their scars, the connection between the physical and mental was made. Scars of past relationships suggesting revenge, remorse and retribution were on the cards. Technical details of bog bodies evolved into technical problems in the lecture theatre and a well choreographed sequence followed which was enhanced by a convincing bit of physical theatre where the victim was dragged backwards by one leg by an invisible being. Sane and normal was disturbed by themes of mental and physical injury as the lecture turned into the horror story we were all waiting for. Everybody wants to see a scary story at Halloween; they got what they came for.
Predictable but then what else would we expect? An interesting feature of the story was that the bog body was a woman, possibly a witch or sacrifice or ritual killing as it had rope marks round the neck indicating the cause of death was strangulation and not drowning in the bog. Apparently this is a common feature
of bog bodies and did I also hear that so is the fact that most of them are women. Still victims after all of this time, showing us a stark connection with the all too common modern theme of women being punished or scared or victimized in horror stories. Coincidence too that all in the production were women so was it pointing the finger at all of us men? Grouping us together as males and condemning us by collective punishment because the misogynistic element gives us a bad name by continually regurgitating the trope where the victim is once again the terrified woman? How would it have appeared if the lecturer had been a man and he ended up being terrified? I haven’t seen that play yet.
Although there was one person in the play, quite a lot was going on on stage most of the time which made for fast paced action and the 45 minutes flew past.
A one woman play by Olivia Cordell / Developed by Audrey O’Farrell /
Directed by Emily Hawkins / Photography by Kelly Powers
BOX OFFICE https://www.etceteratheatrecamden.com/events/bog-body-zezmx-5tdaf
