Strong acting give heart to haunting tale

Mary Rose ***

Scottish Storytelling Centre

WITH minimal set and strong attention to atmosphere, Theatre Alba give a very welcome production of Peter Pan creator JM Barrie's little-performed ghost play, Mary Rose.

They create a glistening and eerie heart to a tale which moves from a foreboding old house in the English countryside up to the lochs of the Outer Hebrides.

On the way they depict a story which owes more to Scottish folk tales than to scary scream-fests. Indeed, if this has any structural shortcomings as a production, it is that the cast and director understand the folk tale part of the play too well - so that the rest is not as truly spooky as it could be.

The strength of the production lies in its excellent performances.

Particularly from Romana Abercromby as the girl of the title, Mary Rose. She is convincing in every aspect of her character.

But in general, the performers shine because they are able to stand back and give the story the space it needs too breath as it moves back and forwards through time. They also do exceptionally well to evoke both the charm and the wilderness of the Outer Hebrides.

The central concern is the romance in 1909 between 18 year-old Mary Rose and the slightly older Simon, played by James Ashton. Together they create a real sense of childish enthusiasm as Simon asks her parents for her hand in marriage while she goes upstairs to wait for the good news.

Simon Tait and Suzanne Dance create the slightly stuffy parents in such a way as to make the secret they have to tell Simon about their daughter all the more credible. A secret which is kept from her, even though it concerns an event which happened to her when she was 12.

The family were holidaying on the Hebrides. Mr Moreland would leave Mary Rose alone to paint on a beautiful little island while he fished in the loch. On the last day of the holiday she disappeared without trace from her usual spot - only to reappear a month later acting as if she had never been away.

As the story progresses, it is Romana Abercromby's strong sense of Mary Rose's childishness that lingers. While the characters around her mature, and in particular Simon becomes all the more priggish, she seems to retain a level of playfulness only natural in a 12-year-old.

Only Mr Cameron, a gillie played with calm self-assurance by Robert Williamson, is really in tune with her ways.

Ghost stories demand not just a willing suspension of disbelief from the audience but also the right atmosphere in which they can do so within a logical framework. It is Williamson's real gift to be able to provide that.

Not all the performances are as strong, however. And while Ann Lannan is suitably crabbit as the housekeeper at the foreboding old house, Marcus McLeod does not convince as a younger man who has come to see round the old place.

It is not enough, however, to detract from the whole production's satisfying tingle of a ghostly apparition.

• Run ends tomorrow