Manipulate 2016: Bird @ Traverse, 4 Feb

In the middle of the space a lone creature sleeps. Crowned with a bird's nest of hair and robed in tatters, she is queen of this derelict land. She splits her time between 'conversing' with the tree – her shelter and sometime provider of sustenance, though words are neither of their strong points – and venturing further afield in search of the more exotic fare available in piles of abandoned tin cans.

The presence of musician and foley artist David Pollock adds a new dimension of forlorn solitude to our spirited heroine. In the emptiness of her world even the sound of her own footsteps seem to have wriggled free from her; become foreign and ungraspable. And yet the use of real material and electronic sound, performed in real-time conversation with the movements on the stage, creates for the audience a textured and substantial world.

Sita Pieraccini has a curious quality as a performer, and one which makes her endlessly compelling and charming: she has mastered the art of seeming utterly remote while also inviting the audience in, as if she is addressing an imaginary friend. Likewise, audience members feel as if they are privy to their own special insight, while being united in the thrill and wit of Pieraccini’s storytelling.

While at times the reiterations of motifs seem repetitive, they mostly serve to lull the audience into a ‘We’re All Going on a Bear Hunt’ sense of security. And once we’re in the palm of her hand, Pieraccini knows exactly what to do with us.

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Bird, part of Manipulate 2016, Traverse Theatre, run ended.