Rose Gets Shot

A REAL low-key gem of C's Fringe programme this year, Rose Gets Shot borrows from a wide range of sources and blends all of its reference points into one elegantly pitched, highly stylised whole.

Essentially a crime noir tale set in early 20th-century America, the play's most obvious touchstones are the movie versions of Chandler and Hammett. Yet there's also a contemporary edge to its sublime style, and some may spot the eccentric approach of David Lynch or Tim Burton. The way everything - from costumes to the porcelain make-up of prostitutes and police alike - appears in stark monochrome owes a big debt to Frank Miller's Sin City, although all these influences are consciously used rather than idly aped.

The initial focus of the story is world-weary gumshoe Detective Buchanan, although the heart of the tale is Rose, a well-respected madam at the local brothel who received a letter bearing the words "Rose gets shot", and promptly disappeared. For much of the play, the unseen Rose is an idea rather than an entity.

So Buchanan begins asking questions, pacing the streets earnestly thanks to a clever shifting of scenery. He speaks to the girls at the brothel (including the excellently neurotic transvestite Chi Chi, played by Jonathan Woodhouse) and their fatherly pimp, Alfie. The trail of corruption leads all the way to the mayor and the chief of police - both parts are played wonderfully by Max Oleskar, the latter with a real hint of brilliance as a hilarious, borderline-insane Nick Cave lookalike.

Director Amber Homes and scriptwriter Chloe Campbell have done an incredible job on a play which is absorbingly rich in character and gloomy atmosphere.

It doggedly pursues one central question, and when we reach a resolution this throws up far too many more questions to feel satisfying. In most stories that might be a hindrance, yet it's a hallmark shared by all the great noir tales.

Until 27 August. Today 2.15pm