How does one put into words a dramatic performance in which a single word was not spoken? Clever, witty, funny, something extraordinary ? all true but all woefully inadequate to describe what I saw presented by Ines Pasic and Hugo Suarez on last night at Daylesford theatre as part of the Bermuda Festival.

"A parade of memorable beings composed largely of knees, feet, hands, elbows and a handful of props" states the programme ? again all true but again a woefully inadequate preparation for the metamorphosis that occurs before your eyes.

There is no subterfuge, there is no trickery: The little plastic eyes are attached to the knuckles, the little rubber nose is slipped onto a finger, a shirt is added, and a human being is born, becomes self aware, experiences the joy of existence, suffers the aches and loneliness of old age, and its bathos ? all in the space of five minutes, without flashes of light, special effects or miles of celluloid.

Ines Pasic and Hugo Suarez are ? if you'll excuse the pun ? masters of the understatement, and in order to do what they do, masters of observation as well.

They are acutely aware of the human body ? their own and others. How else can they take a red nose and a shirt and create a sleeping infant from a bare knee?

Add a bowler hat and a ukulele and you have a talented busker, add a puppeteer and you have a victim of the hard life of the streets.

In another skit a pair of hands and a Peruvian blanket become in succession a wizen crone, a butterfly dancing on a sunbeam and finally the flickering flames of a fire.

The intimacy of Daylesford is perfect for this series of vignettes, some created by Pasic, some by Suarez, and some by a very closely choreographed performance by the two of them.

The language of mime is universal, the humour and the drama transcend culture as they are used to explore the human condition. Puppeteer becomes puppet, but in a witty, wry self-awareness, a visual pun on the medium itself, puppet interacts with puppeteer, as in the case of the poor busker whose earnings are stolen by very clever sleight of hand.

The audience, a pleasing cross-section of Bermudian society, were captivated, no engrossed, to the point that unconsciously they were mirroring the action on stage ? hands waving, gasps escaping, comments anticipating the action to come.

The audience were so much in the power of the puppeteer, that they too were manipulated ? willingly ? from the very first vignette, in which the puppet/puppeteer actually controlled the volume of the applause.

This talented pair will pull on your heart strings just as cleverly as they pull on their puppets' invisible strings.

The performance, one hour and fifteen minutes in length will be repeated at 6.00pm and at 8.30pm tonight and tomorrow night at the Daylesford Theatre.