Òran is part performance poetry, part live electronic music show, part elegiac quasi-rave but mostly an electric and electrifying piece of theatre. Writer Owen Sutcliffe and Scottish theatre company, Wonder Fools have worked together to weave an epic poem that riffs of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and serves up instead a tale of misunderstood teenagers, bullying, mobile phone misuse and male friendship in contemporary Scotland.

Òran’s lost his older brother. His mother’s never quite recovered and his dad is just awkward. Òran spends his life thinking something’s missing until he meets an unlikely friend in Liam. A twisted attempt at revenge goes wrong and Òran determines to head down to the underworld to try and make amends.

The story’s written in boisterous vernacular verse but the words are chosen so carefully, so colourfully, that it rarely feels contrived. The plot lollops along, bristling with insight into the socially awkward anxieties characteristic of today’s teenagers. There’s some beautiful, un-intrusive,  audience participation that helps this ancient story feel just as relevant today.

Performer Robbie Gordon makes light work of an incredibly technical show. A tiny desk holds all the kit that enables him to serve up live sequencing, an eerily beautiful score (VanIves), complicated foley and numerous sound effects. The set’s otherwise pretty simple barring a beautiful lift (you’ll have to go to find out why). Gordon also makes light of an hour-long monologue, written in verse, that sees him ricochet around the compact Baby Grand stage at the Pleasance.

The concept – riffing off someone else’s story – is as old as the myth that inspired it. There are more faithful contemporary retellings out there. (If you’re a fan, be sure to catch Wright and Grainger’s delicious gig theatre reinventing the Minotaur story at Summerhall this Fringe). But if you want to support brilliant local company Wonder Fools, plumbing the sweaty, shifty depths (and highs) of young male friendship, Òran is the show for you.

Òran is at Pleasance Courtyard – Baby Grund until Sun 25 Aug 2024 (except Mon 5, 12, & 19) at 15:15