Theatre reviews: Anathema

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Young company Bearded Dog Theatre deserve credit for tackling the taboo subject of male rape, and for making advice available in a sensitive and appropriate way.

theSpace on North Bridge ­(Venue 36)

**

Yet their rawness as ­theatremakers means they can’t keep a certain sense of worthiness from infusing this ensemble piece; when one character replies to a painful revelation with a statistic, we can virtually hear the line clunk on the floor.

It also appears unsure as to whether it wants to be a knockabout student slice-of-life (Ed Sheeran’s Galway Girl is dutifully press-ganged onto the soundtrack), a ­rather odd whodunit or a serious issue-based drama.

Until 26 August. Today 10:10pm.