There is something peculiar about spaces below ground, out of sight and mysterious, where the atmosphere consists of damp decay and unknown processes.

Claudia Molitor’s part-installation, part-performance (co-commissioned by Brighton Festival) was well suited to such a subterranean venue beneath Brighton’s seafront Old Ship Hotel.

For each of the 15 sold-out performances, two-dozen participants were ushered silently into dimly-lit passageways and into three otherworldly candlelit spaces displaying various props such as a disembowelled piano that suggested a tenuous storyline.

Drawing on the letters of Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, four scenes were presented where everything was imbued with the chill of winter.

Into this world stepped a voiceless figure, played with great conviction by Susie Trayling. The character began in a state of extreme grief and anxiety but slowly found her way back to sanity with the help of rediscovered memories and meanings.

Fragile and delicate soundscapes added to the sense of claustrophobic voyeurism as we watched her rebuild her humanity – unearthing writings, books, images and sounds and finally stacking piles of logs to suggest the warmth of a coming spring.

It was the perfect site-specific creation and a wonderful journey through the innards of a building and the nether world of the mind.

Four stars