Bewilderness

Themes of entrapment have always fed the imagination of The Right Size's Hamish McColl and Sean Foley.

One of their previous shows was about two men stuck in a lavatory, so it should come as no surprise to hear that their latest offering concerns two men - ice cream seller Terry Wellington and top lawyer Morris Peppiatt - who were diverted from their plan of spending a golfing weekend in Devon by answering a cry for help from the back of the sofa in their rented cottage.

The cry comes from Mr Todd, aka veteran actor Freddie Jones, and when they follow him down the sofa, they find themselves in an underworld. But this is not another inquiry into claustrophobia. This world is no more enclosed than the world they have come from, so the question is: is it an acceptable alternative?

The initial fun is, as always, working out how they got themselves into this mess. The excitement is in seeing how on earth they will try to ease themselves out by the end. There are some fine and very silly songs along the way, with a suitably deranged banjo accompaniment from Chris Larner. Terry tries body-surfing with a life-sized dummy, and there is a very funny filmed sequence in which he runs off to Egypt.

McColl's Morris, a wide-eyed career man with his heart in the Territorial Army, makes a nice contrast with Foley's slightly sunken Terry, in fear of losing his family. Jones's marvellously shambling performance in a dressing gown is reminiscent of Ralph Richardson. The set designs by Alice Power are economical but very focused. By the end, the stage is a pin-cushion of trap doors. Even the boards are levered up as, with inch-perfect timing, heads keep popping up where you least expect them.

By the time Mr Todd finally admits he rather likes his "fluffy underworld", much of the audience would have been happy to have spent more of this one-act 90-minute play with this inspired comic cast. Foley and McColl, with director Jozef Houben, have created another triumph: something delightful, wholly original and uniquely charming.

Bewilderness