Review: Piskie

Dr Ouida Burt (Lucy Roslyn) – known in some circles as “the supernatural psychologist” – has been told to punch up her lectures on fantastical thinking. “They can be a bit dry,” says her supercilious head of department, Diana Byron. So she begins her presentation in pitch black as she recounts a case study of two men who swear they saw the devil one night while sheltering from the elements in a bothy. Ouida has also added some fun slides from the Jimmy Stewart classic Harvey and even attempts the actor’s folksy voice – although her dad, who mysteriously went missing when she was a child, could do a much better impression. 

But something is off. As Ouida walks us through other paranormal case studies that can be debunked through psychological explanation, the lecture begins to go awry. The slides get jumbled, the lights flicker, and Ouida keeps getting sidetracked with stories of her own childhood encounters with a piskie – the West Country word for pixie. 

Roslyn is convincing as the nerdy academic, with her awkward asides and dorky jokes, and looks genuinely panic stricken as she begins to lose the threads of her presentation. The setup braces you for horror, but while Piskie is unnerving in moments, it’s a much more vulnerable piece, concerned with childhood trauma and grief. To reveal more would ruin some of the show’s surprises, but this is a moving and highly original take on the fake lecture subgenre of Fringe shows.