Fringe Quickies: Bare

As in “bare-knuckle boxing”. Violence this realistic is rarely seen onstage, but there's more at play here than fists. Acclaimed fight director Renny Krupinski’s tale of a working-class Englishman’s descent into the underworld of illegal boxing is as riveting as its many loud skirmishes. Brimming with tragic pathos and dark humour (especially in the figure of wisecracking, Sinatra-loving mobster Arden, played with flamboyant malice by Krupinski himself), Bare proves that gritty crime thrillers belong onstage as much as onscreen.

Bare. Directed by Renny Krupinski. The Spaces on the Mile @ The Radisson, Edinburgh. 6-28 August, 17:20. £9 (£7 concessions). www.rennykrupinski.com