The Psychic Detective (and those disappeared)

The Psychic Detective (and those disappeared) is set in one of the strangest venues of this years’ Fringe. The audience are led inside the back of a theatre truck where they are transported instantly into the peculiar and unnerving world of film noir.

Here, private eye Patrick Bett is attacked and left drowning in the docks while attempting to find a lost girl. Stranded between life and death, Bett is guided by two angels into his subconscious where he must solve a crime in order to live.

Peculiar as a film noir in the back of an industrial trailer sounds, the concept works remarkably well. The intimate venue, which seats only 20 people, makes certain that this is experimental and visual theatre at its best; encircled by theatrical tricks and multi-media illusions, the audience is unable to escape the action.

Not that one would want to either. The play glides along in a delightful dream-like fashion, as the audience witnesses the action voyeuristically through the blinds of a window. The dramatic patterning and shadows hide parts of the actors’ faces, leaving the audience desperate for more action that will shed light on the events unfolding on stage.

In the play one of the angels notes that Bett has "entered dreaming," telling the audience that "we’re going to have to follow him." Take this advice and pursue Bett into the depths of his psyche by going to see The Psychic Detective.