XD

Like a giant, gaudy coin-operated machine, this 30-minute box of performance treats from Italian company CollettivO CineticO, changes act every few minutes. In a white box upstage, Francesca Pennini dances solo, sporting a white tennis-skirt with a t-shirt stitched shut over her head; the sort of thing a BDSM enthusiast might wear for a knockabout with Sharapova. Before she comes to a halt, two gentlemen downstage have started up, one braced in a dog-cone, the other butt-naked except for a Spiderman mask. False teeth chatter in their own marked-out square; a boy with milk-bottle specs manoeuvres his leg over his head. This all comes before the grand Olympic climax of the toothpaste-squirting competition.

If it weren't for the brash superhero palette and deadpan efficiency, XD—denoting an emoticon grin—wouldn't be quite so bafflingly delightful. That grin lurks in every segment, despite the poker faces and businesslike pottering of the performers, shifting from square to square with their wizardy props. When Nicola Galli dons a red cape to take a running leap at his colleagues, his mid-air superman moment only lasts a fraction of a second before time is up. Ditto an elaborately set-up single kick on a pink foam stage. Brevity is the prerogative of the entertainer.

Who knows what to take from XD, with its bright colours and pop-culture references? But perhaps that is the point. We're so used to looking at everyday symbols, deconstructing the meaning behind layers. Sometimes what you see is what you get.