The Scotsman

Through The Night

THIS solo show by Glasgow-based writer-performer David Leddy chews over a host of themes and ideas, but at its heart are a simple Cinderella story and a love of soul music.

Leddy strolls on stage, an avuncular figure, resplendent in a saffron suit, greeting his audience with a proposal borrowed from Aretha Franklin: "Lend me your soul, I promise you'll get it back." What follows is a string of episodes from the life of Leddy's central character Stella, anecdotes from his own life, and thoughts and comments that seem plucked from other narratives altogether: a floating city; the musings of Björk; a celebrity gossip magazine that talks; and a tale about acquisitive mice and their iPods.

Stella's story nestles in this collage. An ingénue released from domestic drudgery by the death of her foul father, she unexpectedly finds herself hired as PA to a meeja player. Almost before she knows it, Stella has met her Prince Charming. The central themes are almost contradictory: on one hand he deplores the vapid double-standards of celebrity culture; on the other, he defends the integrity of pop music against the snobbish guardians of "high culture". These messages are reconciled by an undercurrent of Buddhist philosophy - the idea that desire can never be sated, that tranquillity is achieved by training oneself not to desire.

Hence the saffron outfit, the bronze Buddha on the stage and the incense: this is almost certainly the most fragrant show on the Fringe. It's also beautiful: the playing area is bounded by a circle of fizzy-pop bottles, linked to an overhead apex by ribbons to form an airy canopy. Within this strange tent, Leddy becomes a chummy channeller of good vibes, whose sentiments, however bewildering, are hard to resist.

Andrew Burnet, 19 Aug 05