Adjectives like inventive, ingenious, beautiful, moving and funny are frequently overused during the Fringe, but this show deserves all of them. It’s also ambitious and heartfelt. In fact it’s probably one of the best shows ever to grace the Edinburgh Fringe.

Grace is another good word here, as the tale unfolds simply yet beautifully. The story takes place in a future drowned world, humanity pushed to the edge of existence. Mourning the loss of his beloved wife, Alvin takes on a perilous undersea mission to save the world, involving a host of otherworldly encounters and even the odd song. Will he be reunited with his wife’s soul? Can he save the world before his oxygen runs out? And can he really dance at the bottom of the sea?

Created and performed by Australian Tim Watts, the story is told through an appealing and seamless blend of mime, animation, puppetry, recorded music and live song. For one individual to perform all of this so flawlessly, without so much as a pause or jolt in pace or tone is in itself a feat; that Watts does it with so much pathos, humour and style is simply remarkable and a real treat.

The animation is simple yet evocative, with funny stick-like sketches providing a narrative backdrop. Individual scenes are then played out with puppets – sometimes real, sometimes as shadows projected onto a round white screen – and the interplay between the mediums is smooth and inspired. The puppets themselves are memorable, with the lovelorn Alvin recalling Pixar’s Wall-E.

The storytelling here is superb, a real labour of love, the show itself created through ‘many experiments and showings to friends and fellow artists’ in Watts’ native Perth. At times the recorded music – particularly the use of sweeping, epic themes by Tim Burton’s regular composer Danny Elfman – threatens to overwhelm the show’s own unique charm, but the character of Alvin and the skill with which Watts brings to life his quest ensure that we’re swept along and utterly absorbed.

There’s a reason why The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik has won awards all over the world and this Edinburgh run is no different – the audience just wouldn’t stop applauding at the end. Go see it.

by Lee McRonald