More Rolf than Kylie

Steve Steen is revered in comedy circles as the portly improvising partner of Jim Sweeney, but he has also carved a niche portraying travel writer Bill Bryson.

Down Under is his third literary distillation. Hardly in-your-face, but there is a seductive lilt to this gentle tale of one Yank unexpectedly falling for Oz.

The monologue starts with history and animals. Dutchman Abel Tasman sailed straight past the coast, prompting the waspish swipe that he "should've gone to Specsavers". Nature is terrifyingly unavoidable.

Our hero fears being consumed by crocodiles and ending up in a handbag.

But it is the snappy encounters with Aussie blokedom that bring the pages to life. Bryson/Steen recalls a football fanatic who literally wouldn't miss a game for his

wife's funeral, before having a gloriously miserable time in Darwin, "where hoteliers and charm never meet".

Writers such as Tony Hawks have latterly turned travelogues into sexed-up quests, making Bryson seem quaint. Down Under, adapted and calmly directed by Paul Hodson, does little to dispel this notion.

Apart from an edgy Aboriginal history footnote, it plays safe with immaculately executed but unexceptional episodes. Definitely more Rolf than Kylie.

UCL Bloomsbury, 21 April. Information: 020 7388 8822.