The Chooky Brae

It's little wonder that sequels keeping popping up in the dialogue of DC Jackson's plays, given that he's spent the last few years working on a trilogy.

After his first two comedies set in Stewarton earned rave reviews, it's easy to imagine a character from My Romantic History chipping in with “Godfather Part III – shite” while he was writing The Chooky Brae.

Fortunately, this is a worthy final chapter. While it gets off to a hesitant and slightly uncomfortable start, it hits its stride when the banter starts to flow and the revelations tumble out, and ends with a crescendo of hilarity.

In a major change from The Wall and The Ducky, the audience is reacquainted with Barry and Norma Gordon in the unfamiliar surroundings of their family home on Christmas Day. Their mother Irene is cooking dinner for the extended family – which now includes Norma's son Grotbags and the baby's uncle Rab. Also joining them is Irene's husband Gordon, who walked out on the family only to limp back after a stroke.

Dad's in a wheelchair, Barry's glued to the sofa, Norma's trapped in a loveless relationship and Mum's stuck in the middle of it all. As ever, Barry is calmly swaggering through life with his mind on higher things – like monkey attacks.

The chooky of the title provides a shameless excuse for cock jokes and confusion, but its the beautifully observed scenes of sibling bickering and romantic wrangling that generate the biggest laughs. As ever, Sally Reid is superb as Norma, recognisably older but not significantly wiser, while Jordan Young steps into the role of Rab and instantly owns it. The two make such an adorable couple that a spin-off sitcom surely beckons.

In the mix are chewy questions about the importance of biological bonds, whether love should be about fireworks or long-term investment, and the power of Facebook to turn indifference into friendship for those with a shared experience of small-town life.

Kenny Miller's production, played out on Neil Hayne's relentlessly cheerful living room set, feels at times like it's suffering an identity crisis, but given the mixed-up characters inhabiting it, perhaps this makes sense.