Pinwheel. Thricely? Precisely. A pocket full of Pips. Bats Theatre, to June 25. Reviewed by Dierdre Tarrant.

A delicious title that belies the anxiety and compulsive behaviour that director Brigid Costello has chosen to explore. Thricely is three dancers dressed very precisely in crisp white with just a hint of colour and individuality and the pocket full of pips is as much with the audience as the cast by the end of this arresting piece of theatre.

Worried writing on the walls, bursts of irrational energy, possessiveness, obsessive cleaning, twisting, scratching, wiping – the tensions are internal and spatial and the constant switching, writhing and repetitive actions take paths of ritual fixation that simply cannot be ignored or resisted. Fleeting moments of calm resolve nothing.

Anita Hunziker shines with clarity and a psychotic understanding of every detailed move. Her nightmare on her mattress goes where we all have been and offers little solace.

Jane Wenley is blissfully inscrutable and in her own untouchable world and Gina Andrews is an irrational manic caught constantly fighting her inner demons. I found myself wanting to shake them and call “enough!” but that was exactly the point of the pips!

Some relief came in a sort of foam play exercise but this was more of a contrast than a cure and the cute clichés of playing with the shapes failed to settle any demons. I got a little frustrated at the long sufferingness and simpering of it all but this was a tightly executed dance/drama that held attention and touched on our dissatisfaction and brought the desperation of compulsive cycles of behaviour out into the open. The music by Tane Upjohn-Beatson and Dale Hitchcock was driven and powerful and all design elements were detailed and excellent – compulsive even and totally in sync with Costello’s vision.

An unsettling but excellent hour!