WHISKY Galore is a novel co-production by Oldham Coliseum, Hull Truck Theatre, and New Vic Theatre.

In the guise of a 1955 all-female troupe, The Pallas Players, the cast recreates Compton Mackenzie's classic tale of the Hebridean 1940s shipwreck from which whisky galore was plundered gleefully by islanders.

The plot is adapted by Philip Goulding, and the director is Kevin Shaw.

Seven energetic actors, in multiple roles, epitomise the enthusiasm and ingenuity of a remote community deprived of the solace of Scotland's traditional nectar, due to wartime restrictions and the diversion of supplies to America.

The bonanza of 50,000 crates of whisky in a wreck close to the shores of Great and Little Todday, prompts a frantic rush to outwit the Customs and the Home Guard. Islanders, set to defy officialdom, combine forces to secure and secrete the bounty.

The Pallas Players: Sally Armstrong, Lila Clements, Christine Mackie, Alicia McKenzie, Joey Parsad, Isabel Ford and Shuna Snow, portray more than two dozen assorted characters. Amid all the excitement of securing the illicit liquid hoard, wedding plans add to the fun.

One of the final lines, "I think we're just getting away with it!" referred not only to the whisky, stowed in stacks of peat or hidden in hay ricks, but to this whole production, which induced some laughs, but sadly lacked cohesion. Fine characterisations included an ebullient dog, whose "I'm too old for this!" caused much mirth.

Whisky Galore continues until Saturday.

Stella Taylor