The Burns Project at The Georgian House, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh****

Not many people can say they’ve shared a Burns Supper with the man himself. But that is what’s on offer at one of Edinburgh’s most prestigious addresses this week.

The audience sits at the dinner table with theatremaker, educator, writer and performer James Clements, who wears all of his hats to bring to life the Scottish bard in this pilot initiative with the National Trust of Scotland.

In tandem with musician and singer Lisa Rigby, whose reworkings of Burns’ songs add much to the entertainment, Clements’ portrayal of the poet is in no way sentimental.

There are no holds barred in this hour-long potted history of Burns’ life. Recordings of ordinary Scottish folk interject with the narrative, speaking of the poet as if they had known him – which, indeed, those whose words they were speaking, had, as everything has been taken from the National Trust of Scotland’s Robert Burns collection of letters, poems and personal items.

Clements puts in a passionate performance with plenty of novel touches, using dinnerware as props on occasion, and under award-winning Cora Bisset’s direction, whose work I love, I came away refreshed and re-energised – which was a surprise. I went along thinking I’d heard it all when it comes to Burns. Although I’m not a Scot, I’ve spent my whole adult life immersed in the Bard through the writings, recordings, performances and TV series of his most famous impersonator, Scottish actor John Cairney, and even produced several of Cairney’s solo shows. So bravo!

The Burns Project continues at The Georgian House, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh on January 19, 22, 24 and 25 before touring America.

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