Edinburgh Festival Day 6 & 7: It's a Sod's life: Night after night you act your heart out and do they see what you're going through? Do they hell

SIMON GODLEY speaks his lines as Frank, the father who buries himself in the garden, from underneath the stage of Arthur Smith's Sod. There are two pipes - one for Godley to speak through and one for him to pass Frank's urine up in a tupperware container: there are also a bunch of 'either fleas or mosquitos; my ankles are getting bitten to hell'. But apart from this discomfort, Godley, who is also co-writer and co-star of the comedy Huge, is philosophical about his beneath-the- scenes role. 'It's probably the best place to be in Edinburgh: no one giving you leaflets, no one shouting at you. It's hot down there, so I sometimes strip down to my pants; that means a quick scramble for clothes before the curtain call. The main fear is falling asleep. The producers were talking about rigging up a cattle prod under there to make sure I don't miss my cues.' He's been thinking deeply about the role which he agrees is comparable to that of Godot in Beckett's play, but having to shout at the top of your voice doesn't make for subtle interpretation: 'It's difficult to do a love scene through a pipe.'

Arthur Smith's 'Sod', the tale of a man who buries himself in his back garden, is at the Pleasance (venue 33) 031-556 6550

(Photograph omitted)