Schlock and roll

Penelope Solomon's Semitic sketch show is a pleasant diversion that's rather too happy to fulfil expectations. There's the wayward Jewish teenager, who only gets a B in an A-level; a trip on Jewish airline Schmeasy-Jet, catchline: 'Up, up and oy vey!'; pushy mums and no shortage of gefilte fish.

Tower Of Bagel has the potential to be better, though. A marvellous klezmer band keeps things buoyant, even after a duff routine such as Audit (24 relocated to an accountancy firm: cute, but directionless). The performers, including co-writer Zeddy Lawrence, are quick and versatile.

Best of all are the moments that involve stretch writers and performers. The dance routines are genuinely impressive, and all the funnier for it. And Solomon is superb as the awkward, estuary-twanged convert. The ex-gentile's attempts to fit in - 'I don't really argue, and I don't really offer an opinion,' she laments - give the show an emotional dimension it too often lacks.

They badly need a director to bring slickness and variety, and to weed out the filler. Solomon, a good actress, is an uneasy frontwoman, who's given herself several songs to sing but lacks the chutzpah to carry them. When her show offers more of an opinion about Jewishness, rather than just staying on the surface, that should change. Dominic Maxwell

Tonight until Sat, Soho Theatre And Writers Centre, 21 Dean Street W1, 8pm, £10, £8 concs (Mon, Wed and Sat returns only). Tel: 020 7478 0100. Tube: Tottenham Court Road