What makes a man, a man? Indeed what makes a man, a great man? These are the questions that Milk Presents set out to discover in their new production A Real Man's Guide to Sainthood, a re-telling of the story of Saint George and the Dragon in their own particular style.
Actors Saskia Solomon and Adam Robertson return from last year's production along with Samuel Milsom, Tiff Wear and Stuart Wilde. In some ways the production is a neat inversion of their previous play with a clear phallocentric bent, as Wear, Milsom and Robertson, as moustachioed 'Useful Men' counterpoint the mostly female cast of Bluebeard: A Fairytale for Adults.
Wilde takes on the role of George, the hero thrust into the jaws of chaos as he wins out in many tests of manliness to win the honour of defeating the Dragon, only to find himself confronted with a problem quite different to that which he expects.
In the play we are treated to this story as shown through a variety of media. As with last year's Bluebeard, the technical elements are makeshift and ingenius, using dynamo-powered lights hooked to bicycles, overhead projector comic-book storytelling and a smattering of audience interaction.
The whole mapcap experience is much like being caught in the hyperactive mind of a child during the depths of a sugar-fuelled bout of adventurous imagination. The play succeeds in the main and only slightly loses cohesion towards the end as the narrative becomes lost before pulling together for the inevitable finale.
A truly unique experience, and one that the Fringe will no doubt regularly enjoy for some time to come.