With so many shows in the Brighton Festival Fringe, I understand why some producers believe they need to devise attention-grabbing gimmicks to get box office doors spinning. But all too often that comes at the expense of production.

So it was a pleasure to see the Magpie Blue company whose approach is understated and whose star will steadily grow if the small cast continues to deliver performances as powerful as Sunday’s debut.

It might be that very little appears to happen, but why no one had thought to bring Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man And The Sea to the Fringe before, or why it is so rarely put on stage, is a mystery.

Santiago, a stubborn but honourable Cuban fisherman, who has spent a lifetime learning the art of the skiff, heads out against the wishes of his young and loyal companion Manolin, who idolises the old man but is banned from sailing with him by his distrusting parents.

After 84 days without a fish, Santiago sails and catches a giant marlin, with whom he enters into a figurative and literal battle of will and strength.

During the epic showdown the sea is revealed as both Santiago’s nemesis and love. It adopts a biblical status and evokes memories of a lost woman. The sea is used as a clever tool by director Laura Casey, with Sara Atalar, whose harmonious singing voice provides sound effects and becomes the Gulf Stream’s embodiment playing a beautiful, divine temptress who teases Santiago.

Just as Atalar uses her musical theatre background to help drive the story, the young Vernon Kizza Nxumalo as Manolin and narrator bounces about the stage bringing zip and energy.

Clocking in at just under an hour, Casey’s meaty but never over-cooked production is well-paced, especially given it is the show’s first live outing. A real gem.