Sticks, Stones, Broken Bones

With an affected cadence somewhere between that of Dr Nick from The Simpsons and the Cookie Monster, verbal communication is not an important element of Jeff Achtem's show. This only adds charm, as it allows him to retain a measure of mystery, and the audience to marvel at his bizarre talent for creating silhouettes out of bric-a-brac and bringing them to life.

Achtem has the audience intrigued from the very beginning as he unlaces the boot of a punter and makes a puppet right there on the stage. Sometimes it is difficult to know what to watch - the projection or Achtem himself - as he lies on a suitcase, legs in the air, manipulating a puppet with each.

With his ill-fitting trousers and gravity-defying hair, there is certainly something of the mad inventor about his patter. His puppet friends all have names and hang from a washing-line suspended across the stage. The creative use of found objects makes the show not unlike Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s MicMacs only without the convoluted plot. Similarly, the slapstick and use of caricature resembles the low key humour of Belleville Rendez-Vous. It’s certainly a more subtle and demanding craft than you’ll often find at the Fringe.

Although not unsuitable, there doesn’t appear to be a single child present and surely it can’t be often that puppets keep an adult audience rapt. Sticks, Stones, Broken Bones is probably one of the most inventive and genuinely quirky shows at the Fringe this year.