★★★★☆
Written and performed by Margaret McAuliffe for Fishamble, an Olivier award-winning company that develops and produces new writing, this witty and warm coming-of-age physical theatre show is set in the seemingly small but very busy world of Irish competitive dancing. Smoothly guided by Stefanie Preissner, McAuliffe handles all the roles — adults and teenagers — with skill and aplomb. She and the director create and maintain a wonderful complicity with the audience.
The central character is Annie, an adolescent whom we first meet as her mum is rolling up her hair before a competition. McAuliffe slips convincingly between the two personae without missing a beat. We hear, see and feel the dynamic between mother and daughter, and the layers of mutual tolerance and affection which lie just underneath any surface tensions.
But it’s not just as a performer that McAuliffe excels. Her script is packed with vivid, laugh-out-loud turns of phrase and telling detail. We learn about a competitive dancer’s toilet habits — how having to pee, for example, makes you jump better, but only up to a certain point — or the many ways of interpreting a compliment about a sparkling new costume: is it genuine approval or thinly disguised cattiness?
McAuliffe, below, is equally adept at physical subtleties but she has her mind on the bigger picture. She understands the nature of competition, and what can happen when someone outgrows a passion. Plus, she can dance.
There are fleeting indications of this during the hour-long performance. It’s a pleasure when Annie finally lets rip to a Michael Jackson track. Hammering out the steps, McAuliffe nails this climactic solo. She, like this rather perfectly formed show as a whole, is a winner.
Box office: 0131 225 5525, to August 27