Boys of the Empire

Oh I say, how ripping to get hold of Boys of the Empire.

Sorry, I didn't quite mean that. I mean it's been a long time since the mag told us a spiffing story about the chums of St Ethelred's learning about Great Britain (emphasis on the Great), the Empire and all those other bits that don't really matter.

But what do you do when a lower class poacher (talks funny, doesn't understand grammar) tells you about the strange, swarthy, mustachioed gamekeeper prowling the woods, who might even be foreign (talks funny, doesn't understand grammar)?

St Ethelred's is in fact unusually tolerant of foreigners. They have a Jewish boy whose father is a grocer; at least, he owns a lot of shops. There's also Kamal who's from Iraq. We call him Camel, obviously. Iraq used to be Mesopotamia but who can be bothered to pronounce that.

Anyway pretty soon Pyke, Overday, Archer and Kamal, together with Morley of the Sixth, are trying to save the school, themselves and the Empire from the dastardly schemes of Johnny Foreigner. They are also engaged in many a manly pursuit, games, boxing, being flogged, hugging and kissing. Oh sorry, scrub the last two, the editor tells me that that's beastliness and there's no place in a ripping yarn for stuff like that. Never mind - we might be able to read subtle, hidden messages into the text.

In case you haven't grasped my subtle, hidden message, St Ethelred's is a school where the boys go camping every day. Everything about this play is gloriously OTT, especially the accents. It really does conjure up the world of 1930s boys' magazines, including the adverts and the many appearances of the editor dishing out advice to the readers.

The acting is perfectly pitched. The young actors playing the boys deliver comic technique and timing equal to anything on the Fringe, and Terence Barton makes you look forward to each of the editor's chummy appearances. Just be careful of senior teacher Mr Pratt; he's not averse to some withering put-downs, not all of which are aimed at the boys. Mark Farelly is glorious as this teacher who wants to show his boys the finer things in life, even if some of the finer things are questionable. He's also splendid as a military officer in a flashback, giving an object lesson in how to speak clearly while you have a pipe clamped between your teeth.

Glenn Chandler has written a delicious parody which cleverly inserts the magazine into the story, makes lots of room for gags about the cheesiness of the production and never lets you forget that it's telling you a story ' silly though it may be.

So if you want a gay night out at the theatre and a thrilling adventure yarn then this is the piece for you. Some of the most thrilling bits are strangely accompanied by loud laughter from the audience, but then some people just don't know how to behave when chaps are in mortal danger. And do make sure you pick up your own copy of the exciting magazine - it doubles as a programme and is full of jolly interesting stuff.