When teenagers Alison, her stepbrother Roger and local boy Gwyn spend the summer together in a Welsh valley, raging hormones collide with ancient myth. After hearing a scratching noise in the attic, the fragile, recently bereaved Alison discovers a dinner service imprinted with flowered owls. What is the connection between this and the local story of a wizard who fashions himself a wife out of flowers and who, when she betrays him, exacts revenge by imprisoning her in the body of an owl?
Why is Gwyn's mother, housekeeper Nancy, so angry all the time, and is Huw the gardener quite as barmy as he appears? Is Alison suffering a nervous breakdown or is a more sinister story of possession unfolding?
Alan Garner's story of obsession, love and betrayal is gripping stuff, and it gets a production from Greg Banks that squeezes every shiver of spooky atmosphere from the tale. There are some terrific, almost gothic moments of pure tension played out on Claire Lyth's design with its creepy owl eyes that gleam like headlights. Melting live harp music and songs composed by Thomas Johnson pile on the brooding sense of foreboding. As is so often the case with Banks's work, the show harnesses imagination and simple stagecraft to tremendous effect - particularly in a scene where a book turns into an angry, distressed bird.
But Garner's story doesn't entirely add up on the page, and it doesn't on stage either. Also, some of its elements - class, snobbery and illegitimacy - now make it seem rather dated. The piece also loses something because the sexual tensions between Alison, Roger and Gwyn are so underplayed - a decision no doubt taken to ensure the show's suitability for family audiences.
· Until July 17. Box office: 01752 267222.
