Petal is dying. Dying for a pee and dying from the cancer spreading across her bladder. On a pilgrimage to Iona with her mother and grandmother, who hope for a miracle, the three women are forced to take shelter from the weather in an isolated bed and breakfast close to Loch Lomond. Here they find three men, of roughly their own ages, imprisoned by the weather, love and loss.
In the strange, shimmering hours that follow, these six strangers get a chance to hit the rewind button and re-tell and re-live their stories. If it sounds strange, it is. Strange, but also rather beautiful and compelling. Water-drenched, memory-drenched and grief-drenched, Linda McLean's sad, soggy tale is surprisingly uplifting, although the lack of narrative propulsion can make it hard work to watch. It is, however, well worth the effort. McLean's writing has a shimmer all its own and the play's fascinating construction has the lyricism of Lorca crossed with the ingenuity of a Priestley play.
I can't say that I enjoyed it entirely while I watched it, but now I can't get it out of my head.
· Until August 28. Box office: 0131-228 1404.
