Aeneas Faversham

Published Wednesday 9 August 2006 at 13:15 by William McEvoy

Vampire hunters from Whitby, the gothic terrors of Bath and gender bending grave robbers are just some of the sketches in this energetic take on Victorian melodrama and Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

The Penny Dreadfuls certainly look the part with their red cravats and black morning suits and their sketches give an absurd and surreal twist to the gloomy netherworld of the Victorian imagination. Stark lighting casts long shadows and the maniacal laughter of moustache-twiddling villains is never far away.

The performers create a gallery of stock character types ranging from duelling young bucks to gay aristocrats. Bathos is one of their best tactics, pricking Victorian bombast with a cleverly timed 21st century rejoinder. Some witty parodies of physical theatre add an extra layer to their consistently inventive and off the wall-skits.

The show reveals how much Conan Doyle, Jack the Ripper, Dr Crippen et al have wormed their way into our subconscious but also how much has changed since then. The Penny Dreadfuls clearly love all the dour reverends, serial poisoners and bumbling policemen of the Victorian psyche and this highly amusing show is right at home in the sublime gloom of Edinburgh’s Underbelly.