The stages of the Baby Belly are a hindrance for most performers. The low, cave-like cellars were at one point the vaults of the Royal Bank of Scotland, and really make what is a far from perfect venue. The stages are small and dank. Actors are often cramped and in danger of falling offstage. Taller actors have to duck lights. The damp ceiling drips on the audience’s heads and the general ambience could be described as musty. With such a dire venue, en mass theatre made an excellent decision not to battle against the conditions but instead embrace them with their creepy and comic, site specific play, The Echo Chamber. I expected a great deal from this show, after all this is its second run at the Fringe, having won the company a prestigious Scotsman Fringe First back in 2003, and being resurrected to celebrate the company’s fifth birthday. I was not disappointed.

We are greeted by a tour guide who leads us into the bowels of the venue, enlightening us on the true and dark history of the building. This introduction is a treat in itself, but things step up a notch when the lights blow and a black-hooded figure orders us to sit down while a Victorian ghost story is acted out before us.  This is excellent children’s theatre, perfectly pitched for children with a dark side, and contains a few genuine scares.

The acting is strong, and the concept excellent, though the end would work better by being more sharp and succinct. As we are hurtling towards the climax, things suddenly slow and the eerie illusion loses much of its impact. The comedy occasionally descends into toilet humour with the obvious aim of increasing the play’s appeal to children, but these segments seem drawn out and are at the cost of the genuinely endearing and sweet humour which is the piece’s real strength. Despite that, all in all this is a funny, thrilling and of course, spooky romp.

You might think the Black Death does not sound like the ideal premise for a children’s comedy show but you would be wrong, as en masse theatre have demonstrated with their other show this year, We All Fall Down. A merry and musical band of players take the stage. The tale they tell is the true story of the village of Eyam, where in the 17th century the people sacrificed themselves by instigating a self-imposed quarantine, successfully stopping the plague form spreading to the nearby city of Sheffield.

But leaving it there would leave us with a happy ending and this is not the company’s style. So they embellish the tale to include the fictitious neighbouring village of Darkling Wells, where the people are not so selfless, and an orphan is sent on a desperate mission for a cure. Add to this a descent into a Dante-inspired hell and you have a piece of excellently realised contemporary theatre. The script is charming and hilarious, the acting fantastic, the music excellent and the use of stage space particularly noteworthy. In fact, We All Fall Down is nearly perfect. The only flaw I can find is that, as it’s being advertised as a children’s show, too many adults will miss out on the fun.