The starting point for the Belgian company is Booba’s rap songs and the unequivocal message that women are “dogs, whores, fat biatches, sluts, good for nothing but f*cking and cooking.” Dressed as a duchess and marquise in the style of Madame de Pompadour, Pauline Desmarets and Olivia Smets tackle the lyrics of France’s most powerful rapper head on, placing them at the heart of the show as the only text. “We, as young women, listen to it, sing it, dance to it, and choose to declare our love to Booba. Is there something wrong with that?” they ask.

Playing on the converging conventions of aristocracy and hip-hop, on the collision of two seemingly opposite worlds, the actresses create a relationship of fascination and repulsion, confronting femininity and masculinity, domination and submission, physical force and weakness, stuffy costumes and unbridled bodies, corsets and sensuality. In this curious schizophrenic setting of crude words, ornaments and jewels, trashy feminist smooth talk on a gangsta punch-line backdrop, the balance is perfect, without anyone giving out lessons or answers. It’s a “sensitive hybrid bastard” that fuses lace and gore for a perfectly explosive mix.