This exquisitely charming and woozily surreal one man show starring Will Pickvance-aided only by his trusted and beloved piano- is certainly one of the more original offerings on the Fringe this year. A witty raconteur, Pickvance oozes a studious charisma shot through with a random and seemingly scattershot sense of humour as he leads his rapt audience not only through his own personal history of the piano but also the piano dating back to Neanderthal caveman times.

Opening with a recounting of a Christmas morning-over delicate tinkling piano strains- when dreams of becoming a spaceman were peppered with feverish anticipation that he might actually be receiving his own personal spaceship as a gift turned to disappointment when he discovered a piano instead of the desired spacecraft. The disappointment was short lived though and his realisation that the piano can take you to places that even a spaceship might not even reach are the raison d’etre of this show.

This humorous start is followed up with a historical anatomy lesson where after discussing hair, and skin we are introduced to the piano’s ancestors and the idea that an upright and grand may actually have copulated to create a baby grand. We are then taken on an aquatic tour where the fore bearers actually possessed gills and teeth.

Careful dissection of the piano follows with us being introduced to the rib cage, spine and heart-if a piano possesses such a thing- and each segment is delivered alongside appropriate sonatas, flurries, honky tonk and extremely witty asides. All through the show Pickvance’s playing articulates the story he is telling almost as much as his words and this conspires to make this as charming a show as you will see this year.

Obviously a gifted communicator as well as an extremely talented piano player Pickvance manages to show this instrument, which is an integral part of any musical genre you care to imagine, the respect and love it deserves.