Theatre

This curious and charming fable is glorious in its playful physicality, but too insubstantial to linger. Michael, unprepossessing in a Pringle jumper, wanders into a Post Office where he meets Bea, a hyperactive post office worker with elastic limbs and a gleeful obsession with Paris. Played by Amy Nostbakken, who is an extraordinarily graceful clown with utter vocal control, Bea draws Michael (and the audience) into a make-believe adventure.

Several teenage boys in the audience appeared as baffled as Michael (Nir Paladi) initially is, but once disbelief is suspended, these empathetic characters become engaging. The scene in which these two confident, committed Jaques Lecoq-trained performers create a physical representation of the entire city of Paris using only their voices and bodies is magical. Both are completely immersed in their characters, and there is a wistful vulnerability running through the silliness. Indeed, Bea is a genuine sad clown, with an aching loneliness behind all her fooling. “Will you share a lonely glass with me” is a recurring line.

Yet despite the beautiful way in which this story is told, there isn’t a great deal of story to tell. No explanations or back stories or even motives are offered, and the ending is puzzlingly ambiguous as to whether Bea is merely a figment of Michael’s imagination. Sweet but slight, though this creative collaborative piece may not say a great deal, but it says it with style.

'First Class' played at the Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, Edinburgh.