Homegrown talent Sarah McWhinney and Fergus Hall – collectively known as Long Green Jaws – seek to take audiences deep beneath the ocean’s surface into an ethereal, unexplored world. Unfortunately, Into the Long Green Jaws suffers from a number of impracticalities that taint the audio-visual wonders in store.

The glaring issue is the poor set-up of the Fruitmarket gallery. While it’s an impressive space to sit in, those who are not seated on the floor or in the front row will miss out on the majority of the action. The second is the pacing of the show. The beautiful visuals and soundscape curated by the duo last far too long for them to make any real impression on the audience, and the slow movements of the performers make everything feel too static. Though there is an attempt to create a narrative with the projected testimonies of fisherman about their superstitions and dreams about the sea – all taken from the School of Scottish Studies Archives – they are too few and far between to offer any real depth to the performance. As for the sea creature – a Sea Trow cloaked in the head of a plastic bottle – it appears too sporadically to have any real impact (and again is mostly out of sight for those in the rows further back).

This is all such a shame, as the lighting, shadow puppetry, and various projected visuals used to make the songs of the ocean are all beautiful to behold. McWhinney and Hall’s strings and singing are also incredibly soothing, lulling its audience into a trance.

Those who manage to secure a front-row seat will likely be delighted with Into the Long Green Jaws. However, if future runs are to take place, McWhinney and Hall would be far better off performing to a smaller, more enveloped audience.