LIVE LAST NIGHT

Aunty And Me Assembly Rooms, until August 26. Fringe brochure p110. HHH The Fringe helped make Alan Davies's name before he was swept to the nation's bosom in Jonathan Creek and Bob And Rose. Morris Panych's play gives him a broadly similar role.

Davies plays a man who gets a letter from his aunt. telling him she's dying. He abandons his job to see out her final days, but gradually finds she is far from death's door. Yet it is only towards the end that the looming poignancy kicks in.

Andrew Burnet Tiny Ninja Theatre's Macbeth Gateway Theatre, until August 25. Fringe brochure p155 HHHH "There were these tiny plastic ninja in vending machines all over New York," says the director of the Tiny Ninja Theatre, "but no-one was using them in classical theatre. Something had to be done."

How right that is, and how good it is that he's filled the omission. When Birnam Wood marched to Dunsinane, a shiver ran down my spine.

Tim Abrahams Pooja Gilded Balloon, until August 26 Fringe 143 HHH For many Hindu women, the natal horoscope predetermines their entire life. This is the basis of Rani Moorthy's one-woman show Pooja, which charts the life of a girl determined to beat the celestial odds. Moorthy's innate charisman makes for an enchanting experience. I foresee great things for her.

Graeme Virtue Daniel Kitson Pleasance, until August 26 Fringe Brochure P25 HHHHH Comedian Daniel Kitson's brand of misanthropy won him many admirers last year. The difficult second show confirms this promise. He continues his onslaught against all things glamorous, now beardless, but sporting a home-made basin-cut.

His material trades on an instinctive dislike of the hip, and he is supremely, painfully funny. He doesn't explain it. He just is.

Dan Bye

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