David Greig is a master at writing intimate, psychological Pinteresque plays from romances a deux to international ensemble shows. At the heart of them all, one of the key themes is communication in the modern world, through language, culture and relationships.
Midsummer is a wildly imaginative romantic comedy, the story of girl meets boy; Helena, a blonde attractive successful lawyer (Cora Bisset) meets Bob, an insecure, inefficient petty criminal, (Matthew Pidgeon) in an Edinburgh bar where a bottle of wine or two leads to a one night stand.
With economical staging the set features a 4-poster bed, each side depicting the ephemera of Helena and Bob's flats with a large digital clock set at 21st June, the shortest night of the year. The next morning, the usual feelings of panic, guilt, regret, embarrassment after a night of lust between two incompatible people - their lives are worlds apart.
Greig's dialogue is sharp, snappy and witty, occasionally using novelistic third person text to describe the scene and inner feelings: "Helena's waiting for a man, dressed in an understated but nevertheless elegant black dress . . . thinking about the secret she can't even tell to herself . . . ."
And another original layering to the whole dramatic mood is a series of beautiful gentle love songs sung and performed on guitar by Cora and Matthew. This kind of mini-musical is reminiscent of Woody Allen's movie, Everyone says I Love You, where the intertwining of song lyrics carry the storyline along.
The plot of Midsummer is a complex, crazy rollercoaster journey over one lost, drunken weekend around Edinburgh from Leith to Marchmont, Whighams wine bar to the Balmoral hotel. This is more than a double act - what is most impressive is the manner in which the two actors take on the personae of weird and wonderful characters they meet on the way.
This is a bittersweet, romantic farce performed with energy and style. Yet behind the humour and strong fxxxxxx language, there's a deep philosophical debate about being thirty-something and single today, what you want personally out of life, and the difference between lust, friendship and true love.
Dates: until Sunday 30 August, not Mons. different times daily, (see Fringe programme and Traverse Festival programme.)