SIOBHAN NICHOLAS’ play Dolce Via is a wonderous magic trick from start to finish, conjuring the lost age of the variety circuit with affection, a bold sense of fun and not a little courage.

The Great Tourinos come together after years of sadness and failed ambition to perform one last show. And what a show it is, with fire swallowing, unicycling and song – not forgetting a meldodrama.

Nicholas’s meticious research shines through, for she hasn’t simply written a two-man play but put together a variety act.

This is intermingled with scenes of the Tourinos taking a painful look over their shoulders to the events leading up to the terrible tragedy that broke up their show.

The contrast between these quieter, tensely emotional moments and the energy of those on either side make them all the more powerful.

Chris Barnes as Freddie handles the shifts in his character with expert skill – moving from a battered performer at the end of his career to a broken-hearted father finally confronting the past.

By the end he has real tears in his eyes.

Nicholas plays Freddie’s wife Grainne, an almost ethereal woman who appears from the wings to take him on a journey to the past.

There is real electricity between the two and it’s very easy to imagine Grainne’s head being turned by the young journeyman on their first meeting, told in a flashback sequence.

Both moving and amusing, Dolce Via has everything a good variety act should – great stories, plenty of laughs and compelling characters.

LAURA DAVIS