Classic myth to modern tragedy

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Missing Persons
Assembly Rooms

A man with a haunted look tells us in gory detail about how his abusive father took away his manhood; now he in turn (literally) emasculates the older man. It's gripping stuff and the first of five rhyming monologues by Irish writer Colin Teevan, in which he fuses mythical tales with present-day characters, brilliantly performed by RSC stalwart Greg Hicks.

Ariadne, Cronos and others are referenced, but no classical knowledge is required; if you do have some, though, there is added pleasure at the liberties Teevan has taken.

In the story of a hitman out of step with the new touchy-feely IRA, for instance, Teevan's Ajax becomes the Amsterdam football club where a victim comes to a rather unsporting end.

The most shocking tale is an inversion of Medea, in which a rejected husband takes the ultimate revenge on his ex-wife by murdering her children, disposing of the bodies and refusing to tell her where they lie in their watery graves. The cold, triumphal look Hicks has as he describes her pain chills the soul.

Light relief comes in the last story, about former Ireland football captain Roy Keane, who walked out on the national squad during their 2002 World Cup campaign. The team's efforts without the midfield hardman, sulking back home, Achilles-like, were heroic in another sense entirely.

Sarah Chew skilfully directs and Jack Arnold's soundscape is haunting. Hicks's performance is at times a little too intense and he doesn't do accents; it's mostly unimportant, but for two monologues - where there is more than one character - it can confuse.

Caveats aside, Teevan's tales are woven with skill and Hicks is hypnotically watchable; Missing Persons deserves a life beyond the Fringe.

Until 29 August. Information: 0131 226 2428; www.assemblyrooms.com