KEY POINTS:
The venue was an interesting one: pre-performance drinks in the foyer of the Herald Theatre, then down through the stage door, usually heavily guarded by security men, and into the cavernous space behind the big red curtains.
The audience occupied four or five long rows of chairs along one side. The opposing wall was set with three ladders, and in front of that sat a chicken coop on wheels and a large rectangular cage, curtained in semi-opaque plastic.
Piles of discarded clothes made mouldy muddles on the floor and more coats hung on long wires from the ceiling - though there is probably another name for the upper boundary of a backstage space. The light was gloomy.
At half past seven the lights dimmed even further, there was a faint crackle of movement in the darkness and a few bars of Eden Mulholland's soundscape.
The most boring show on earth had begun.
Choreographer Malia Johnston has an interesting body of work, including the exquisite Miniatures and Terrain.
And the theme of Dark Tourists - the growing trend for holidaymakers to seek out destinations of disaster, war, genocide or assassination - sounded promising, raising the question of whether this amounts to empathy or voyeurism.
But an hour and a half later, numb of bum and brain, we were none the wiser, uninformed by the proceedings and distinctly lacking in any empathy.
Sean MacDonald, Julia Milson, Paora Taurima, Claire Lissaman and Paul Young are dancers of previous note but were reduced to semi-spasticity by the ugly, undisciplined and achingly repetitive choreography.
Actress Mia Blake performed the longest walk in history and then google-eyed the audience for long minutes before retiring to perch on her ladder for an aeon or two. She did have a brief reprieve towards the end, in a bikini.
Mullholand's soundscape, which included bouts of primal screaming, was the brightest component with riffs of interest, but was unable to penetrate the fog of self-indulgent mayhem. Good news is the season finished last night.
