My second bite at the Brighton Festival Fringe apple did not leave such a satisfying taste in the mouth. 'Fish Dancing' by Keefe Healy was performed at Platform 1 Polar Central in Queens Road on May 18th - 22nd.

The venue is intimate, but when only a quarter full lacks a great deal. I really want to support the people who are trying to push this as an arts venue, but this production was not the one people will be buzzing about.

'Fish Dancing' is a dark play � as bleak as existence itself � set in an un-named coastal location at an indiscernable time. When the first actor speaks it is with a strong west country accent. The second performer replies with a Canadian lilt that made me think she was an American trying to speak English. When the father character comes on stage � the strongest character and performance � he speaks with such a goddam New York accent that one conjectures that the story is set on the north of the east coast United States. But as there are no geopolitical references to the States, why bother with the accents at all?

The set is small and made from rough timber and canvas to conjure the effect of a home built from ship wrecks 'with the souls of dead sailors looking at us from all angles'. The front curtain rolls up like a sail to reveal the set, but when lowered acts as a screen for dancers to project shadows during some rather clumsy choreography. This is a good device and the set, sound and lighting work very well. On the back wall is a body cast that one supposes represents the figurehead from a ship, but it could also be the presence of a drowned woman.

The dialogue is clever � in fact quite an education to listen to, but it is also demanding. Very demanding on the actors, who sometimes lost the rythmn, but also demanding on the audience trying to follow it. Occasionally I tuned out through exhaustion (after a hard day's work) and almost lost the flow of the story. The title 'Fish Dancing' comes from an expression fishermen use to describe the panicky movements a fish makes when it is hopelessly caught in a net. Thus much of human activity � our loves, our interests, our passions � are portrayed as meaningless and hopeless behaviour. This is heavy stuff and it could be a lot more digestible if there were lighter moments, but there are none.

This is a strong play, but the performance did it little justice. There was a look of disappointment as the cast took their bow before a three-quarter empty venue. Maybe that was hampering their performance � but the show must go on!