The Pearl[author-post-rating] (4/5 stars)

To say that The Pearl is a lovely show sounds reductive, like damning with faint praise. But ‘lovely’ is an underrated, over-used word that can mean moving and charming and warm feelings deep-in-the-belly. Dumbshow’s adaptation of the John Steinbeck novella is really, in the fullest sense, quite lovely.

A group of west country seafarers bustle around the audience as they slink into their seats, making comments, giving compliments, getting people sat down. They tell everyone how they collect the junk that washes up on the shore, and they want to tell a story about the things they’ve found and the things they have yet to find. It’s a story about Kino and his pearl – the biggest pearl he’s ever seen, the pearl of the world – and the irreparable damage this apparent stroke of luck does to the lives of Kino and his family.

This is group storytelling done with real art: the cast of four play a variety of characters and fill the show with little pieces of magic, especially during a particularly inventive extended sequence, in which Kino dives below the waves searching for pearls. They create another world, an underwater kingdom, with only bubbles, music, lighting and bits and pieces of odd props.

The props are largely junk, a reference to the flotsam and jetsam the seafarers collect from the shingle, and there are plenty of solo wellington boots and bits of wood scattered across the stage. This gives The Pearl a pieced-together feel that is pleasantly reminiscent of poor theatre, set off by understated performances.

As it rolls on, their tale becomes a melancholy one, a parable about the obscurity of those around us, even those we love, and how impossible it is to really know somebody’s depths. It’s also about the hopelessness of aspiring for more than one has: the pearl brings calamity upon Kino because the world does not want him to want more; things cannot stay as they are if men like Kino do not remain contented with their lot. Subtly political and ultimately moving, The Pearl is delicate and enjoyable storytelling theatre, well made.

The Pearl can be seen at 12.30 at Pleasance Courtyard, every day until 26 August. For more information and tickets, visit the Edinburgh Fringe website.