The Government Inspector

Don't be fooled by the posters – Gogol's famous political satire has not been liberally adapted to reflect recent events. It didn't need to be, as this damning look at small-town corruption is both timeless and universal.

This version by the late Adrian Mitchell is, however, set very certainly in Russia, which is brilliantly evoked by Gerry Mulgrew's lively musical production while the link between a courtroom full of geese and an island of ducks is acknowledged with a wink.

Every member of the cast is a singer and instrumentalist, too, and while on a few early occasions the exchanges aren't quite as razor-sharp as they should be, the production steadily builds comic momentum and keeps the audience chuckling for almost three hours.

Key to this success is the ever-reliable Andy Clark, who is perfectly cast as Khlestakov, a chancer who grasps an opportunity (and several hundred roubles) after being mistaken for the box-ticker of the title. Here is a character who can flatter self-important men while simultaneously charming their wives and blustering his way through an ever-increasing web of lies, and Clark makes it look as easy as filling in an expenses claim form.

That's not to suggest that he carries the show – there's also terrific work from John Bett as the town governer, Gerda Stevenson and Kirstin McLean as his vulgar wife and daughter, Alasdair Macrae as the postmaster (and the show's musical director) and Tom Licata and Mark Prendergast as the double-act of local landowners who set the chain of absurd events in motion.

Inspired flourishes of design and direction by Jessica Brettle and Mulgrew enhance what is already a thoroughly entertaining and memorable night of theatre.