As the clock ticks towards dawn, a young soldier not yet 16, looks back over his brief life. The soldier is Thomas Peaceful, a volunteer in the first world war, and in just a few hours he is going to die. But it won't be from an enemy bullet. Peaceful will be executed by a firing squad for cowardice because he refused to obey an order that sent the rest of his unit to their deaths.
This adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel for children is gripping; not that you can argue that the staging adds anything to the narrative. In fact, the staging is sometimes contrived and awkward, whereas the narrative just flows off the page in a seamless mix of remembered country childhood and bitter present experience.
The young actor playing Thomas is deeply affecting as he exudes helpless innocence from every pore, and the sheer restrained power of Morpurgo's writing keeps you gripped. I can't say it is an advertisement for theatre over the novel, but it is a story that needs to be told.
· Until Monday, box office: 0131-226 2428.
