Theatre review: Tumble Tuck

Underbelly, Cowgate (Venue 61)

***

She plays Daisy, a young woman who takes up swimming as therapy only to discover she’s a born winner – at least she would be if she had the competitive instinct. In her black swimsuit and swimming cap, Milton plays her with drive and focus, at one with the rhythms of her own script and never missing a beat. She glides gracefully into the cast of supporting characters, including Cath, her upper-class nemesis, and Alice, her backstabbing best

friend, as well as her overbearing mother.

It is an excellent performance in a play that holds much promise in its themes about the psychological impact of a traumatic event, the insidious hold of a psychopathic criminal and the social pressures that can lead to body dysmorphia. “I swim because I love my body not because I hate it,” she says, resisting the athlete’s quest for physical perfection.

So why the hesitation? It is simply that, at 40 minutes, the play doesn’t allow Milton enough time to explore the ideas in full or to give them the emotional weight they deserve.

In Tom Wright’s fine production for Back Here! Theatre, it skims impressively across the surface but stops short of diving deep.

Until 27 August. Today 1:30pm.