Back in Edinburgh entertaining children after last year's creepy success, The Echo Chamber, En Masse's tale of pirates and mermaids is good rollicking salty fun. With its long sheets doubling as sea and sail, and piano and step ladder serving as a ship, is more stylishly designed than a lot of shows for adults on the Fringe. This may be some of the best work for children currently available in Edinburgh; however it is not amongst the best theatre for children generally.
Nonetheless, there is plenty to recommend in a show that isn't trying to do any more than entertain, and which does that with a highly developed sense of the ridiculous and some clever performances. Parents will enjoy the Ofsted-style inspection by the fearsome Celia Salt ("do not call me C Salt") who is determined to turn the captain and crew of the world's most wimpish pirate ship into fearsome villains with a cutthroat attitude; children will love the sheer silliness of the enterprise.
The structuring of the story is sometimes all at sea, but the tone of the show - a kind of loveable gruesomeness - is very appealing.
· Until August 29. Box office: 0870 745 3083.
