A pleasing side to euthanasia

The most callous person would surely baulk at the idea of bumping off ageing parents - even at this time of year.

But the idea and its social implications gripped the imagination of Jacobean playwrights Thomas Middleton and William Rowley who, in this 1618 tragi-comedy, dramatised the chaos that follows the arbitrary passing of a mandatory euthanasia law in a fictional Greek court.

By decree of the Duke, all men over 80 and women over 60 are to be disposed of in preference for a world that prioritises youth and beauty.

What ensues instead is a complete breakdown of social and moral order as young sons hurry to dispose of wealthy fathers, young wives plot to be rid of ageing husbands, and savvy skivs trade in hags for pouting trophy girls.

The first play in the RSC's London Gunpowder season, A New Way To Please You's topic of euthanasia is hardly lacking in modern relevance.

But director Sean Holmes still works hard - maybe too hard - to make his modern-dress production as lively as possible.

Drawing heavily on a modern counter-culture aesthetic, he dresses grasping son Simonides as a strutting baroque punk; has Eugenia's desperate, elderly husband Lysander (a super James Hayes) pay homage to Taxi Driver in the night's funniest moment and fills the stage with pounding techno soundtracks and warped-looking dancing girls.

Such garish visual language certainly points up the inherent corruption in his lead characters. Yet, while the cast performs with vigour, the unrelenting slapstick jars with the play's serious undercurrents and historical relevance, while drawing attention to its narrative deficiencies. Great fun but, in several respects, not quite on the money.

Until Sat, Trafalgar Studios, Whitehall SW1, 7.30pm, Wed and Sat mats 2pm, £20 to £34, £15 concs. Tel: 0870 060 6632. Tube: Charing Cross

A New Way To Please You