The truly astounding impact of this show is in the mesmerising visuals whether it is the imaginative and original video film clips by Billy Gwilliam, the dance sequences, the staging of each song, or the lighting.  For “Pretty Things” the view of female dancers highlights their torsos and stretchy gauze conceals their heads and faces.  I thought of Peter Cook and his ode to the gauze placement in Gothic art.  “China Girl” has video in red like Chinese characters but morphing into other shapes, while a dancer captivates us with swirling red silk.

“Starman” sung by Sian Crowe has exploding star burst on video leading into Elliot Rose singing “Life on Mars”.  “Rebel Rebel” has walls of cracked faces and a lone dancer dressed as a doll but broken as a ballet dancer. In “Sound and Vision” the dancers’ television heads are surreal with their yellow suits and eerie head wear. The Berlin sequence “Under Pressure” has marching, military people as dancers but matched behind by proliferating lines of video clones.  The birds, dancers with feather headdresses and large eyes are disconcertingly reminiscent of the photograph from Southport and the stage becomes excitingly monochrome like shadow puppetry.  In “I’m Afraid of Americans” the stars and stripes dominate the screens.  There is video footage of Freddie Mercury singing a Bowie song but presumably copyright issues denied real images of Bowie himself.