The excitement in the audience is palpable as the lights dim in St George’s West, a beautiful venue that lends itself well to theatrical transformation. The anticipation is not surprising as Leddy has built a reputation for exceptional new writing and truly memorable site-specific theatre that transports the audience into the heart of the worlds he creates, with Sub Rosa and White Tea being huge Fringe hits in recent years.Four characters enter to the sound of heavy rain, the stage empty except for a striking red silk sheet which hangs in the background, participating in the play’s modern-art aesthetic. Somehow Leddy had already begun to evoke the atmosphere of Venice; city of love, city of art. Over the next 90 minutes, a historian, a priest, a writer and an art collector share with the audience the highs and lows of their Venice days, with a warts-and-all intimacy that at times borders on the melodramatic.Although their narrative paths take place over four different decades, their stage action is seamlessly intertwined and expertly executed with clockwork precision and unbroken pace.There is no lack of drama in the characters’ lives but, despite committed performances, somehow they lack the intrigue and engagement to draw us in. The script, which is seasoned with Beckett quotes and references, varying from the blunt to the obscure, lacks the subtlety and layering of detail we might expect from Leddy, and seems out of tune with other elements of the production.At points throughout the show the audience are instructed in chocolatey tones to close their eyes and meditate on a series of personal relationships. Leddy has said that he wanted to create ‘an antidote to the insanity of the Fringe’ and certainly there is a unique sense of group calm, though this interesting exercise would be more effective in a more intimate venue.