Theatre review: Roots, Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh

The company known as 1927 are famed for levels of theatrical artistry that are simply dazzling, in both positive and negative senses of the word.

Roots, Church Hill Theatre

Roots, Church Hill Theatre * * * *

Founded in 2005 by co-directors Suzanne Andrade and Paul Barritt – and immediately hailed as stars of the Edinburgh Fringe – the company known as 1927 are famed for levels of theatrical artistry that are simply dazzling, in both positive and negative senses of the word.

On one hand, the level of visual ingenuity and invention they bring to the stage is unique.

Yet every one of the tales – each told in voice-over by a family member of one of the artists – creates its own vivid world of visual imagery, from the black-and-white cartoonery of

the opening tale about a cat that eats the world, through the fabulous orange-and-yellow graphics of a strange tale about snakes mating in the desert, to the wood-cut folk style of the final story, about a brother and sister who try to abandon their old mother, but find themselves literally rooted to the spot.

Yet the cleverness and beauty of the imagery remains infinitely alluring, for audiences the world over; a feast of strange

and magnificent design linked to stories whose sometimes chilling implications are never shirked or censored, but are presented in such a beguilingly ironic style that we are never tempted to consider them too seriously.

JOYCE MCMILLAN

Until 25 August

For unlimited access to all of The Scotsman's festivals coverage, subscribe here