Blackout

Pulsing with physicality and pushing the boundaries with a big soundtrack, Davey Anderson's Blackout tells the true story of a young lad whose fight back against the bullies could so easily have been the stuff of legend. Except that he chose to fight the bullies on their own terms, found a role model in Hitler and swapped his own maligned look for a skinhead and braces.

It is a deeply challenging piece of theatre, which Glasgow company ThickSkin present in big, bold, stylised form. A triptych of video screens display evocative, abstract images of the boy's environment, the bare stage more dance floor than anything else, and the five-strong cast throwing themselves with lung-bursting energy into the performance.

Director Neil Bettles' highly choreographed story-telling is perfect for the brutal nature of the story itself. The casual violence of young people to each other is caught in a glossy light which reflects the gloss of the inspiration for the violence rather than the acts themselves.

Tom Vernel creates a consistent and vivid character in outsider James, pushed at home and at school, and not confident that his own mates like him for himself. His four collaborators work hard, providing a motivating force as an ensemble but jumping into a variety of characters to push the plot on.