Panto season has come early. Comic trio Population: 3 has carved out a niche with their gender-bending spoofs. After Gladiator and The Wicker Man they've set themselves the tusk - sorry, task - of giving The Elephant Man a sex change. Their relentless irreverence rarely rises above undergraduate level but remains eminently enjoyable.
James Bachman plays Dr Treves, whose Johnny Ball-style lecture ends when his wife dies giving birth to a Cabbage Patch doll during a "Caesar salad section". Distraction is at hand, however, when he visits a freak show run by the foulmouthed Russian Popov, starring Miss Anella Phant. His reputation is restored and love looms.
Lucy Montgomery and Barunka O'Shaughnessy share a trunkful of upstaging roles, from Disneyfied urchins and vomiting nurses to sullen prostitutes and the aforementioned cursing Cossack. Everyone aims for big laughs and, despite a whiff of self-indulgence, there are frequent bull's-eyes.
This frivolous diversion, directed by Peepolykus stalwart David Sant, doesn't have the sustained parodic charm of 2003's The Wicker Woman. There is a middle act where things definitely dip before some trademark ingenious props, most notably a climactic cuddly-toy stampede, revitalise things. No Baftas, but buns all round.
Also on 21 September. Information: 0870 0606627.
The Elephant Woman
