Mice Will Play

Cube, Project Arts Centre

***

In this beguiling production, dancer Nic Gareiss and fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh weave together a loose collection of stories and facts about mice with recorded interviews ("Everyone has a story about mice," they tell us conspiratorially), scientific snippets, and their own small, tall tales.

The best parts of the show, though, are the music and dancing that act as segues. Ó Raghallaigh needs little introduction, given the calibre of his output to date, and here each reel and line from his 5+5 fiddle is matched by Gareiss with fluent, expressive dancing, whipping up a soft shoe storm of subtlety and grace. There's a lovely mix in the music, from Ó Raghallaigh's traditional tunes to the rootsy charm of Gareiss's Michigan mountain music (Frog Went A-Courting is a particular highlight). The premise is light, and the non-musical elements are stretched thinly, but the music and dance alone make this mouse well worth catching.

Ends Sept 12