How A Man Crumbled @ Summerhall

I'm a big fan of cartoon violence, especially when a vegetable is deployed. So, this show has great appeal for me- it has the lot: corpses; grotesque sexual acts, debate, philosophy and a leek.

Trained by Lecoq ( stop sniggering ) and basing their work on surrealist 20s/30s Russian poet prankster Daniil Kharms, the young theatre trio Clout blur visual art and physical theatre,their poses and gesticulations precise and often flowing together as one, despite having very different characters.They have met Godot, you suspect...They deal in the nervous titter, provoking hugely varying responses within the audience. How you experience their collective insanity will depend on personal taste. Silent films from the Expressionist genre are a big influence, and the Stravinsky-like piano score subtly adds to the excitement as the characters dart around, making wonderful use of the space.

The subtitles too add to the spectacle-it is as though the talkies never came in.Mine Cerci's swift direction is excellent, getting the most from the troupe. George Ramsay's lascivious man has a lolling tongue and a yen for the ladies, which distracts him from writing his great masterwork. A giant ball of paper in human form torments him in the corner, but that's before he is violently hit in the face with a giant leek.Suffice it to say, he is not having the best day.

Yet this is as nothing for the poor woman with a single pigtail atop her head like an inverted question mark (French actor Sacha Plaige) who will meet her maker, only to be stuffed inside a suitcase, legs and arms sticking out in one of the most cunningly choreographed scenes. Jennifer Swingler's androgynous fool is an endearingly squeaky idiot savant, more gonk than human.

Clout may possess no nutritional value, nor grandiose statements, but they are truly a force of nature- and I guarantee you will never be bored.