Secrets from the basement

0 Stella Reid takes centre stage in this unpredictable play feels like it could be about a young woman’s voyage of self-discovery; an unlikely romcom with a classic meet-cute; a Chaplinesque physical comedy; a thoughtful meditation on grief, guilt and regret; an unsettling and visceral horror. Reid’s unerring performance ties all these strands together and instead of jarring, they come together fluidly – a reminder that life (and its end) is not one or other genre of story but all genres interwoven and overlapping and playing out at once.

The star turn is supported by spot-on lighting, production and sound design – lights, music and voices bleed from one source to another to many at once, depending on who’s meant to be observing them (Reid? the audience? someone else entirely, or perhaps no living soul anywhere?), and the cluttered basement is by turns cosy and threatening. While Reid is the focal point for the various narrative threads, it’s Jane Yonge’s confident direction that spins them into something more expansive and durable.

NIKI BOYLE

Until 26 August. Today 6:30pm. Underbelly, Cowgate (Venue 61) JJJ

“Where are you from? No, where are you really from?” “Can I touch your hair?” It’s the kind of casual racism that anyone who’s going to see this show is unlikely to be unaware of and is even less likely to have participated in.

But while company Nouveau Riche’s lyrical and, at times, musical collection of a group of young women’s experiences of racism and sexism often covers familiar ground, it’s delivered, by the dynamic cast, with passion, power and aplomb.

Like office furniture, attitudes haven’t changed, they tell us – so maybe some repetition is needed. At times the direct-to-audience address reiterates the same phrases, perhaps desperately hoping that finally the world will get it. A depiction of black men talking about black women explores a less familiar kind of prejudice. But the choppy structure, which moves between renditions of iconic songs and individual vignettes, doesn’t allow time for a deeper exploration of the scenarios set up.

However, when the women speak together at the end, united by a shared sense of fighting back, rather than being discriminated against, it’s a defiant and moving moment – one that has many white audience members jumping to their feet in a standing ovation.

SALLY STOTT

Until 26 August. Today 6:50pm.