Knots

Entrances don't come much more striking than six members of CoisCéim Dance Theatre, dressed in their wedding day finery, travelling down the aisle. Let's just say that the men don't seem to be experiencing the happiest day of their lives.

Knots offers a deeply cynical but very witty take on love, marriage and relationships, teaming dazzling physical performances with words from the work of Scottish psychoanalyst RD Laing.

Our hapless sextet get caught up in a tangle of catch-22s and self-fulfilling prophecies relating to love, hate, fear and respect, and respond with dance, expressive movement and violence. The last of these is superbly choreographed - either that or the company has invested in industrial-strength make-up to cover the bruises.

Knots is a playful dance theatre show that darts slickly from one sequence to the next, with an eclectic soundtrack covering electro-rock, Latin grooves and sleazy, tongue-in-cheek pop.

Perhaps the most memorable routine, brilliantly staged to resemble a dog show, takes the form of a riotous audition for a mate that sees potential lovers dismissed for incorrect hand-holding and incompatible spooning styles.

The flexible set is transformed from cage to kitchen, peep show to wedding arch, and a messy conclusion sees a stage awash with beer, blood and confetti.

Knots is an exhilarating way to spend 80 minutes. The message may be somewhat bleak, but the style is playful and highly original, and what's more the performers genuinely appear to be enjoying themselves. It's contagious.