Pleasance Dome
5 - 31 Aug, 1:20pm (2:25pm) 

Words can be played with; words can be misunderstood; occasionally, words can lead to tragedy, too.  That's the premise of Play on Words, this year's show from award-winning trio Three's Company.  And it's an appropriate theme - because it's their writing that makes this talented crew so special.

We five-starred last year's Auditorium for its "word-play straight out of Stoppard" and "mind-bending, rule-breaking fun"; it was intellectual, even existentialist, but it was fast and funny as well.  The group have made a trademark of the self-referential play-within-a-play, and Play On Words is formed from that mould too.  From what we hear, an off-stage voice from Prompt Corner directs the thespian protagonists, as a normal day at the office turns is turned upside-down by the mysterious disappearance of a friend.

Play On Words has been to Edinburgh before, but there's a characteristically inventive new twist for this year: the actors will be "auditioned" live on stage, with the audience deciding who plays which role that day.  Might it be a stunt too far?  We'll see.  By all accounts, though, this'll be a quick-witted, funny, yet darkly moving show; we just can't wait to join the word-play.