No one seems to know exactly when or how, but there has been an expectation that art and artists should stay apolitical. It could be that the studio system led by Hollywood executives wants their cultural products to reach and be consumed by as many people as possible, or it could be the other way around: that endless social media information about politics makes people tired of such an inescapable environment and want to leave those things at the door when they just want entertainment.

Either way, such apoliticality seems to inspire Creepy Boys’ ‘SLUGS’, which they claim to be about nothing, not genocide, nor climate change. As they move from song to play, from clown show to puppet show, the duo try to entertain us while keeping everything that is not nothing off the stage. When they accidentally touch on something, which they establish at the start as the opposite of nothing, they fall into a sudden panic that they might ruin the show about nothing. 

Yet, as the show progresses, and as we see how somethingness becomes attached to and politicised in a toxic way, turning a call for coexistence, compassion, and understanding into alienation and brutal attack, the two need to decide whether their show can stay about nothing, and whether the audience sees it that way.

‘SLUGS’ is the kind of show that you would expect from Summerhall around midnight, wild and ruthless in how it delivers its message. However, as with other shows that have visited the space before, there is also precision, craftsmanship, and undeniable artistic talent beneath all the craziness: they use a combination of projection, puppet show, video and live performance, where every interaction and movement has been carefully designed to trigger a magic moment with ease.

‘SLUGS‘ is at TechCube 0 at Summerhall until Sun 17 Aug 2026