The Chosen Haram by Sadiq Ali – Summerhall, Edinburgh

A deceptively simple show, The Chosen Haram pulls off powerful storytelling through remarkable physical movement, without a single word. Sadiq Ali and his co-star, Alexander Duran Davins, are dancers and circus performers. Bursting from the wrappings that encase them as the piece begins, they climb, tumble, spin and drop on a pair of Chinese poles. Their skills are mesmerising and often alarming, especially when they fall 20 feet, headfirst, stopping inches from the stage, something they pull off with apparent ease. However, the strength of Sadiq Ali’s work is the way he uses these performance skills to tell a moving and tragic story of a gay couple, one struggling with the contradictions between his Islamic teaching and living a queer life. Drugs and domination, sex and separation all feature. Told purely through the two men’s bodies, this is as touching and original a show as the Fringe has to offer.