Symmetry takes centre-stage in this lovingly crafted blend of psychedelic folk music, puppetry and tasty Finnish cuisine, weaving a touching mythology around the world’s longest palindrome.

Saippuakivikauppias, for the very few unaware readers, is the Finnish word for a travelling salesman purveying soap and depicted here in the form of a small wooden man.

Our soapstone seller, a troubled soul, is obsessed with what is absent, polishing his stones to perfection, each side of the sphere matching the other.

Delicately imbued with pathos by puppeteer Daisy Jordan and the meditative music of Jane Bom-Bane, Eliza Skelton and Martin Peters, we see this extended to life, with every action our protagonist takes needing its own equivalent from another angle.

The Midgard Serpent, a beast of legend representing eternity in numerous cultures and winding its way creatively around the venue’s bowels, invades our protagonist’s dreams as he and the audience traverse Finland in search of completion.

The audio-visual segment in turn is deliciously completed by traditional servings of mackerel pate, Firewater (vodka and cranberry juice), meatballs (veggie meatball option included) and Mustikkapiirakka (blueberry pie) upstairs.

An all-round sensory treat, this thoughtful existential fable effortlessly sucks the audience into its beautifully rendered world.

FOUR STARS