Would Helen Keller ever have broken free of her prison of silence if her teacher Annie Sullivan hadn't goaded her to do so? How far is love mixed with abuse in the teacher/ pupil relationship? In Iranian company Theatre Bazi's extraordinary performance piece, two women sit in a wire cage eating. One consumes her food with delicacy; the other - who is blind, deaf and dumb - eats messily. The teacher removes the food and forces the girl to read using Braille. The girl's resistance is met with more force.
There is love in this abuse, even a warped tenderness. Without it, the girl would remain locked in darkness, silence and incomprehension. But how far will the teacher go, and what if she fails to take precautions with those scissors or that sharp knife?
With its wordless scenario, haunting symbolism and flickering black-and-white images that play on torn strips of paper and rags, Attila Pessyani's production harks back to Kantor. That doesn't make it old-fashioned. Instead, this strange, compulsive hour full of crashing noise and softness seems timeless. It is as if it is playing on some loop, constantly re-creating the power struggle between teacher and pupil, government and citizen, prisoner and jailer - until revolution is inevitable and the deaf, dumb and blind find themselves blinking sightlessly in the light, edging their way painfully towards the door.
· Until Monday. Box office: 0131-226 5425.
