As an 11-year-old he was full of hopes and dreams and music. He had a sparkle in his eye, he played his mother’s piano and sang songs to trees. But secondary school came along and as his confidence drained away, so did the colour in his world until all he was left with was shades of brown and grey. Fast forward and Dave is 30 and plodding through a life amidst the monochrome. Until a drunken, pitch-dark night, and Eurydice and everything is golden. For a while.

Whether or not you know your Greek myths, you’ll know that Orpheus is based on one. Orpheus is taught to play music by the gods. The beauty of his music wins the heart of the wood nymph – and then wins a second remarkable opportunity. But if you don’t know the story, you’ll find no spoilers here. Wright and Grainger plonk their adaptation into a busy city centre, pints of lager lager lager on a birthday night out and wind their way into a late night karaoke bar.

Wright and Grainger are a class act. They convey an air of slightly shambolic spontaneity. But the pace and delivery and the lyrics and the live music and the beautiful bundle of these things is hold-your-breath gripping. Alex Wright’s words (“The bricks of butterscotch kisses/ And molten sugar mortar”) and controlled delivery are part performance poetry and wholly theatre. Phil Grainger’s acoustic guitar and soaring songs conjure up a perfect evocation of our lovelorn hero. Whether he’s serenading the dreams of an 11-year-old or yowling in love-struck, grief-stricken rage, his voice is majestic.

Located in Summerhall’s cavernous Dissection Room, the production is rendered intimate by a simple staging accompanied by a glorious riot of lights from Rachel Sampley. Some of you might have seen this Orpheus previously in one of the lecture theatres at Summerhall in 2018. But whether or not you missed it and whether or not you like a Greek myth, this is masterful storytelling interwoven with music. If you loved Hadestown, you might love this purer, moderately more heart-rending version a little bit more. It’s on until 7 August before they revisit another of their shows, A Grand Don’t Come For Free, serving up The Streets’ album in the same space for three nights only. If this production is anything to go by, that’ll be a wee bit special too.

‘Orpheus’ is at Summerhall – Dissection Room until Thu 7 Aug 2025 at 21:30