St Petersburg's cult physical theatre company Derevo can do scary (Red Zone, La Divina Commedia) and cute (Once). Here they do both, but to no particular effect, in an ocean-inspired visual extravaganza that seems rather self-satisfied. Many shows on the fringe have verbal diarrhoea; this one suffers from the visual runs.
That is not say that there are not some lovely things here. The bits of the show that look like a 1930s advert for a seaside holiday have a camp and childlike enchantment. There are cut-out leaping dolphins, a gibbering human lighthouse and absurdist touches: at one point ships get taken for a walk like dogs on leads. Here you can see the real talent and precision of a company who make the physically challenging look easy-peasy.
They are not so good on the intellectual content and, in straining for the metaphysical, seem only to achieve the mundane. The breezy, Persil-white world is in sharp contrast to another darker, subterranean world, where people have got their kit off and seem to be having a very nasty time indeed. I never worked out why, but a final voice-over suggests that, in a big-fish-eat-little-fish world, us humans are upsetting the delicate balance of things. So, no more fish and chips for the rest of the fest.
· Until August 25. Box office: 0131-558 3853.
