The Black Cat
Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds/Touring

THE CONSIDERATIONS when adapting a classic book for the stage are much the same as those when covering a much-loved song. The performer can choose a traditional approach, as does Jeff Buckley with Hallelujah or take a more radical one, as in Nirvana's angsty version of The Man Who Sold The World.

Those parallels are repeatedly referenced in this retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat by  LaPelles Factory, a two-hander from Olwen Davies and Ollie Smith, with the duo wrangling over how faithfully the macabre short story should be updated.

With irreverent insights into the process of staging and adaptation, the performers deliberately take opposing stances.