CHRONICLE Editor Liz Davies concludes her look at some of the exciting new theatre at the world famous Edinburgh Fringe.

THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW DRESS

Written in five parts The Passive, Narrative Tenses, The Conditional, Lies and Truth and Degrees of Uncertainty the story of the The Girl in the Yellow Dress appears slowly like the titles to each scene which appear from a jumble of letters projected on to the stage,

This new play, which received its European premiere at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre ahead of a tour of the UK, South Africa and Sweden, tells the story of the burgeoning relationship between Celia, (Marianne Oldham) a young and beautiful white English teacher living in Paris, and Pierre (Nat Ramabulana), her young and handsome black French-Congolese pupil follows as it develops during a series of beautifully scripted and measured language lessons.

Immaculately written the piece follows Celia as she encourages Pierre to reveal his story, while exploring the intricacies of the English language as the play hurtles towards its most ungrammatical climax.

For me, The Girl in the Yellow Dress was one of the delights of the fringe - a well written, compact piece of theatre with a strong story and equally strong performances - it deserves to do well.

APPLES

If, like mine, your image of life in an urban comprehensive school is drawn from watching old episode of Grange Hill, then trust me, Apples is going to come as a shock. Adapted from the novel of the same name by 19 year old author Richard Milward, it follows the lives of a group of teenagers led - obviously enough - by Adam who has OCD and a penchant for afternoons in the attic with a porn magazine and Eve, an alcopop guzzling teenager who uses casual sex and 'Apples' - 'E' tablets - to escape from the bitter truth of her mother's battle with lung cancer.

Shocking it may have been with its violent language and depictions of everyday life in a Middlesborough school, but it was also as well put together as the novel, which has gained Millward a reputation as the new J D Salinger.

DECKY DOES A BRONCO

AS the veteran of countless mediocre outdoor performances it was such a joy to learn that al fresco theatre doesn't always have to be about actors racing around and screaming rather than actually giving genuine performances. In this revival of the ten year old classic Decky Does a Bronco, Scottish company GridIron proves that it is possible to produce outdoor theatre which is gripping, moving and in short very, very good.

Set at 'the swings' at the centre of a Scottish housing estate, the story follows a group of pre-teenagers as they while away the long Summer holidays, playing, fighting and doing 'broncos' - a complicated manoeuvre on 'the big swings' I well remember from my playground days and like poor Decky would never attempt let alone master.

Blending high comedy with drama, the play explores how childhood experience shapes the adult and shows that it is more than possible to produce quality theatre away from the confines of the conventional indoor setting.

FARM BOY

This eagerly anticipated sequel to Michael Morpugo's Warhorse picks up on the story of the central characters of battle hardened Joey and his beloved Albert on their return to their Devon farm home as told by the son of Albert, the human hero of the original book.

Set many years in the future, Albert's son is now an old man with a grandson of his own, to whom he falteringly tells the story of Joey and his epic battle against an antique Fordson tractor, which forms the backdrop for the piece.

Examining how modern machinery and its introduction to the world of agriculture brought with it dramatic changes Farm Boy with its warm bonding between grandfather and grandson is a heartwarming recreation of a time which will ring with particular resonance in this part of the world - just one of the reasons not to miss the production when it visits The Borough Theatre in Abergavenny on Friday, October 29