Manipulated Path: What is Love?

For some people, it is gambling: for me, desire has always been my downfall. Often reduced to a mere biological by-product by scientific accounts ("love's a chemical reaction, honey"), emotions could be the real driving force behind all those fine words and sentiments. Luckily, the Jesuits identify desire as the road map to destiny, and manipulate has three works that sketch out the limits of romance and passion.

Por Sal Y Samba (Summerhall, Sunday 3 February) begins like a slinky samba: a summer dress and a smart dressed man getting down to a groove only they can hear. Of course, it turns sour - the arrival of the salt is not easy on the eyes - and Carles Casallachs dissects the violence implicit in the soothing sounds of samba sensuality. This is love tested in the crucible of conflict, and Casallachs unapologetically presents the brutality inevitable when the need for possession becomes a battle for power.

To The End of Love (4 - 8 February, various venues) does not make it easier. Jealousy, the ghost of past lovers, the secret chamber in the heart of the man and the quest for truth in the heart of the woman lead this modern Mr and Mrs Bluebeard towards pain. Like Por Sal, there are moments are beauty juxtaposed against the anguish: the psychological world is animated by swirling costumes and a precise allegorical narrative.

Meanwhile, Paper Cuts goes for the comedy: a secretary is seduced by the romance of the cinema, before being reminded that danger is an important part of even the romantic comedy. Where Por Sal has sex and TTEoL has petticoats, Rasooly's monodrama has magazine cut-outs and humour.

All three shows share an interest in how desire can lead an individual (or a couple) deeper into unknown territory, where the consequences can be deadly and passion compromised by other needs. At the heart of desire is the problem of control - who has it? where does it fit? - and I tend to use the arts as essays on aspects of life I am not sure how to explain. Follow this path through manipulate and I might start to understand how love can end in hate or fear.