Entering after a warm reception in the foyer where everyone was given Rum and Ginger Beer in washed-out baked bean tins, the audience are greeted in the studio space by ‘identical’ twins Peter and Finnegan. Both are stood in a fishtank of blue water, Finnegan communicating through semaphore and Peter through exaggerated expression. There is a sense of excitement in the air, as the twins finally have some visitors!

We are somewhere off the coast of England, on a small isle not far from Bournemouth and Brownsea. Here the twins ritually rehearse their tour of the island on a daily basis, doing their best to live by the ‘celebrated’ Modern Guide to Manual Living and Hygiene: the only item that their parents left the stranded pair. It is a routine filled with exhausted laughter and repetition to hide mutual resentment and loneliness – a set-up in the finest absurdist traditions which this deliciously, darkly humorous performance explores.

Slowly, the context of the twin’s situation is revealed; what began as a very funny performance inventively undermines itself as we learn how bleak their lives truly are. One almost feels guilty for at first laughing, but this is handled with care by Idiot Child so as not to play against itself, bringing instead gravitas to the world that the pair have invited us into. There is no fourth wall here – we intimately share and interact with the actions of these twins. In the grimaced laughter of Susie Riddell as Peter, we watch the mask she has created for herself slowly crack to reveal her hidden pain, while Adam Fuller as Finnegan, barely caring to speak, longs for something more and yet remains on this isle bound only by love, despite the building animosity he holds for Peter. Both communicate so much through action and though Riddell holds the weight of the dialogue the pair deliver equally expressive impressive performances.

The direction is precise and commendable. The work is inventive and fresh. The space is used intelligently and very effectively, with simplistic and powerful signifiers; the use of shoes that reveal the fate of their parents is particularly poignant and the animated sequences blend perfectly within the setting of the piece. It is therefore surprising that in what is a very well edited work the only criticism comes from two movement sequences that seem a little too long and jar with the narrative flow. These are used to develop the bond between the twins and explore their emotions, but they felt incongruous and in need of enhanced choreography. However, this is merely a minor note in what is essentially a fabulous piece of work and one that certainly deserves to be celebrated.