Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind

Published on Wednesday 11 August 2004 01:35

PLEASANCE COURTYARD (Venue 33)

THIS musical, based on the best-selling fantasies by Terry Pratchett, has all the usual ingredients of a show bound for the West End - flawless cast, the slick direction and impressive costumes. For those familiar with Pratchett’s universe wars with a moral twist, Shaun McKenna’s libretto will not disappoint.

The scarily Thatcherite posh girl (Ashleigh Gray) ditches her belief in survival of the fittest to aid Johnny (Ben Heathcote), charged with escorting an ailing alien race home. But in between the zap guns and talking computers our feet are kept on the ground by references to social ills, such as the idea people take drugs because they’re poor and miserable. There are good one-liners, though, and a winningly cosy ending.

Until 30 August.