Manipulate

Three's A Crowd, Traverse, Edinburgh

Mary Brennan

FOUR STARS

No doubt, in the course of this eighth Manipulate festival of visual theatre, we'll see some persuasive, skilful uses of puppetry - but the opening show, the premiere of Three's A Crowd (by All or Nothing aerial dance theatre), is an imaginative reminder of how flesh and blood beings are just as susceptible to the controlling hands of others. It begins with a silver-clad Itxaso Morano, mid-air inside a giant picture frame. In one of the few spoken fragments of the piece, she reflects on her closest friends and how she'd pushed, pulled and supported them in that long-ago past - where were they now? Their reunion, however, stirs recollections of what lurked behind the jolly photos.

In everyday life, the ties that connect and influence are invisible, beyond a hug or passing touch. But here, the apparatus of flying harnesses, ropes and silks gives a visual physicality to the tugs of love, the jealous disruptions, the attempts to escape from a relationship or to rise above a restrictive partner. Even the fixing on of carabiners is done by a helpful - possessive? domineering? - other hand, while just out of sight, the riggers swarm up and down the scaffolding: another layer to challenge notions of free will. There's all the thrill of circus acrobatics, but Paterson and her creative team have infused the movement on, and off, the ground with emotive meaning - humorous, on occasions, angry and conflicted at others, or sometimes soaring with a lyrical grace that is quite meltingly lovely. Her six performers are astounding: fearless, yet feelingly human. Luke Sutherland's score, like the lighting, takes on the colours of each episodic mood. An impressive achievement all round.

Tour details at www.aerialdance.co.uk