A whirlwind of caricatures and stereotypes sweeps the stage, conjured up by a hard-working, talented cast of just four, assisted by some brilliantly captivating shadow puppets. Enter the portly forms of Mister Hitchcock and the Loch Ness Monster! While the English stereotypes with their clipped upper class 1930's accents are reminiscent of Harry Enfield's black-and-white chums, our motley melee of kilted Scots bring to mind the many craggy faces of Stanley Baxter. With unflagging energy and frenetic enthusiasm, Colin Mace and Alan Perrin act, interact and clown about as countless different characters, sometimes several a minute! From music hall stand-ups and Mr Memory (a ventriloquist's dummy given flesh?) to hammed up Nazi professor, it's humour all the way, both physical and verbal, for the rapid banter is equalled in speed by breathtaking costume and scene changes as we rattle through the story.

The main characters, pleasingly, remain rounded and believable (within the context!) David Michaels is a fine Richard Hannay, dashing gentleman hero and man-on-the-run: suave, elegant, earnest, upright, courageous - and a bit wet, while Clare Swinburne presents a classily sexy Margaret, cool, proper and passionate to the right degree, especially in that classic handcuffs and stockings scene. As well as turning Glaswegian to play Pamela, Clare also doubles up as Annabella Schmidt, ending up with a knife in her back - a knife with a strange and hilarious pulling power all of its own

Perhaps, though, our four stalwarts are all in danger of being upstaged throughout by the props. Who needs Robert Powell dangling from the clock-face of Big Ben when it's possible to be even sillier on a much smaller budget and do it over and over again for almost two hours? The characters may be numerous, but the roles enacted by props and effects are numerous times twenty! Choosing a winner for Top Prop Award would be nigh on impossible. Certainly the portable lamp-post, the moving Edinburgh station sign, the steaming toy train, the improvised thorn bush and bog, the instant car, the party goers and the dancing Tiller girls must all be in the running. North by North-West's plane scene is an entertainment in its own right, while the Psycho theme is much more subtly integrated. A further award for might be initiated for the timing of sound effects, as well as some deliberate mis-timings a la Acorn Antiques.

Through splendid performances, slick integration of cleverly choreographed props and well-practised, elaborate improvisations that let themselves go with the unbridled fun of a student review, we have on our hands a spiffing good show. And even the plot made sense!

Eileen Gray