In the absolute blackness of the Pleasance Ace Dome, a self-help group of possibly imaginary people share the blame and guilt for terrible acts. Utilising spoken word, sound and aural special awareness with incredible precision, ‘Ring’ creates a genuine sense of oppressive fear, malice and isolation. Director David Rosenberg and sound team Ben and Max Ringham deserve tremendous praise for the construction of the show, while the spoken voices are powerful enough to convey the required emotion without visual cues. The dialogue occasionally strays into artificiality, but such is the power of the darkness that this is a minor complaint. ‘Ring’ is experimental theatre at its best; just don’t go if you’re afraid of the dark.

Pleasance Dome, until 24 Aug, 2.00pm.
tw rating 4/5 | [Andrew Bell]