Rosie Kay Dance Company, MK Ultra, QEH

Billed as ‘a pop brainwashing experiment’ MK Ultra may not be to everyone’s taste, but if your curiosity is piqued by the promise of bright lights, superhuman dancing and pounding music, then you’ll most probably derive a lot of enjoyment from this show.

MK Ultra takes its name from the real LSD-fuelled mind-control experiments carried out by the CIA in the 1950s and 60s, which provide a starting point for its exploration of the rise of widespread conspiracy theories, currently believed by millions of people and spreading like wildfire on the internet.

Adam Curtis, whose documentaries (The Century of the Self, The Power of Nightmares) focus on power and how it works in society, contributes a film voiced by himself, which blends cabalistic images with footage drawn from pop culture.

Kay’s compelling choreography turns dance into ritual, the seven dancers of her Rosie Kay Dance Company alternating between contemporary pop and timeless imagery that references one of the most persistent conspiracy theories – that the world is really controlled by a centuries-old occult order, The Illuminati.

All this to a compelling electronic score by Annie Mahtani, who provided the music for Rosie Kay’s critically acclaimed 2016 work 5 Soldiers, with arresting triangular projections by Louis Price and costumes by Lady Gaga designer Gary Card.

This is a show like no other and well worth viewing, whether you’re into conspiracy theories or simply into thrilling, sensorially charged performance.