A TRIP to Scarborough sounds like a budget holiday for a family from Wife Swap, but the theatrical version is a far classier affair.
Alan Ayckbourn's adaptation of the RB Sheridan play The Relapse, which is itself an adaptation/sequel, can only be described as pure gold.
Set over three time periods, all the action takes place a few days before Christmas in the sumptuous lobby of the Royal Hotel.
Cutting and swapping between the 1800s, 1942 and the present day, three tales of deception are played out to comic effect.
At the centre of each is the sometimes gregarious, sometimes devious and always disgraceful character of Foppington, a famed character from a 17th century play, also referred to as Fashion.
Terence Booth is delectable as Foppington, who in the 1800s was a bawdy sex-hungry rogue with a title, trying to seduce anything in a skirt. Move onto the present day and he's a slimy dealer in a suit trying to con a young woman out of a priceless manuscript.
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But the deception in A Trip to Scarborough does not stop there. A mysterious Second World War Army officer with two wives and in the modern day, two married salesman with roving eyes, ensure a wealth of scandal for the audience to revel in.
Subtle changes in the lighting cleverly distinguish between the time periods, which are seamlessly merged together. Costumes are a joy to behold, especially the period outfits of the 1800s, which were used to sublime effect at the play's conclusion.
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