The Corstorphine Road Nativity

The Drylaw Nativity wouldn’t have had the same ring, my companion noted in between fits of laughter.

Certainly, parents of pupils at the school (almost) of the title might not recognise their own little angels in the variously disadvantaged wee souls featured here.

Among the seven-year-olds in Miss Mochrie’s class is a multi-tasking wise man whose mother is at the bingo on the big night, a donkey who spies his social worker among the mums and dads and an innkeeper and shepherd whose family owns a farm, leading them to question the credibility of a few elements of the nativity tale.

Tim Firth, the writer of Calendar Girls, adapted his own 1999 TV special for the stage, and at times its origins are clear. The endearingly ramshackle style of the nativity spills over into the production itself at times, particularly at the start and finish of the first act, which require considerable tightening by director Joanna Reed.

The star-studded cast is terrific, from Sara Crowe’s vengeful angel Gabriel and Julie Wilson Nimmo’s earnest Mary to Steven McNicoll’s Nasa-obsessed star. However, it is the brilliant Ryan Fletcher who steals the show with an absolutely inspired portrayal of Herod and Joseph – or rather, of a solitary, neglected lad reared on A Question of Sport – that builds to a crescendo of silliness.

These perfectly pitched performances are great fun; it’s just a shame that Firth insists on introducing the parents who have been so vividly conjured by their children’s unfiltered dialogue and mischievously adapted carol lyrics.

The adults are one-dimensional and unsympathetic, and one is left wishing the seven-year-olds had been allowed the final bow.

A version of this review first appeared in The Herald.