iron maiden

Iron Traverse, until August 24Fringe Brochure p131HHHH Outlying Islands Traverse, until August 24Fringe Brochure p141HHHHH

THE biggest hit at last year's Fringe was the Traverse's premiere of Gagarin Way. It's a hard act to follow, not least because Gregory Burke's debut marked the discovery of a significant new talent. But this year's two in-house productions - both by well established Scottish writers - are very fine plays, and the Traverse company has not sold either short.

Rona Munro's Iron follows the reunion of an estranged mother and daughter, Fay and Josie, in the prison where Fay is serving a life term for murder. Josie (played with intelligence and subtlety by Louise Ludgate) is a rootless 20-something businesswoman, seeking to release the childhood memories that were imprisoned by a trauma 15 years ago. Before long, their severed bond begins to knit. But Fay is a complex, contradictory figure: institutionalised, desperately needy, highly perceptive in a creepy, Hannibal Lecter way and - as we discover from the warders - highly manipulative.

Munro's play explores the resilience of blood ties and the ethical quagmire that surrounds life imprisonment. But what she's really trying to unearth is the X-factor that could drive a woman to commit murder - an event so rare that there are only 12 convicted murderesses in the UK today. Does she find the key? I'd say not - the enigma remains locked down. She paints Fay neither judgementally nor sympathetically, but as a woman of unique instincts. And what really clinches Roxana Silbert's smart, restrained production is a superb performance from Sandy McDade as this terribly wounded, inscrutably sly victim of her own furious passion.

The passions in David Greig's Outlying Islands are more varied. There is conventional lust: a triangle between John and Robert - two scientists straight out of Cambridge - and Ellen, young custodian of the remote island whose wildlife they've been sent to survey. There is her uncle Kirk's passion for money, for which he stifles all principles under a veil of puritanism. There is Robert's passion for natural science, which over-rides his human sympathies, and there is Ellen's passion for Stan Laurel, which provides much of this sombre play's surprisingly rich seam of humour.

The action is set in 1939, in an abandoned chapel - the lads' billet for their summer on shady government business - beautifully realised in Fiona Watt's set. Following a debate over the ethics of the mission, the three younger characters are left alone. Freed from Kirk's sour influence, the trio turn mildly feral. For naive, prudish John, this means an awkwardly conducted sexual awakening, but for raunchy Robert the isolation allows for a deepening connection with nature.

Philip Howard's rugged, life-filled production, which draws excellent performances from all four performers while delicately teasing out the script's intricacies, is fautless. And this may well be Greig's best play to date: deep, absorbing, lyrical and highly entertaining.

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