The Plot @ Summerhall

The latest offering from acclaimed company theatregoose orbits a black mass. A stripped-back set design by Ellie Wintour lends itself to highlighting this centrepiece: a volcanic lump, hanging chains and tethered items in the exact centre of a tarred and blackened floor. They will all come into use.

Set in Purgatory, The Plot follows two brothers – Robert and Thomas – coming first to the realisation that they are, in fact, dead, and the Gunpowder Plot that they had planned and attempted has failed. The play proceeds in a fluid and self-consciously absurdist fashion as the brothers engage in a ‘game’ playing out the immediate events leading to their capture and death.

The Plot is a wordy whirlwind of character-swapping, metatheatricality and rapid-fire sequences. Its thematic interests are complex and interwoven: they span the imagination, the creation of national mythology, the links between the personal and political, which stories are told and who gets to tell them, and everything in between. No doubt, The Plot is a dense and difficult text, but credit must be paid in large part to Sophie Kean and Abby McCann’s physically characterful and emotional performances. Nothing is lost, and every beat is hit with seeming ease.

When it comes to a piece of work like this, the ambition must be praised. There are sections where we catch ourselves on the edge of our seats, utterly engaged. There are also longish stretches where the formal playfulness and slightly dense semantics begin to dislocate the dramatic intrigue of it all, leaving us feeling alienated and a bit dumb.

The Plot is lacking in these areas, and ultimately doesn’t quite hit or connect in the way it aims to by the end. That said, there are so many elements within the play’s writing and visual construction – not to mention the stunning central performances – which make it essential viewing at this year’s festival.

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The Plot, Summerhall (Main Hall), until 31 Aug (not 18, 25), 7.30pm, £19-21.50