ESTABLISHED by the director of this play, Roger Gregg, Crazy Dog Audio Theatre normally produces surreal comedy for radio that is renowned for its cutting-edge audio presentation. For the group's first foray into full stage production, they have taken one of Greek literature's great love stories, that of Orpheus and Euridice, and given it the Monty Python/Coronation Street treatment.

Irreverent towards the classics, while remaining true to the mythical themes, the play centres around the love triangle between Orpheus, a demi-god whose voice is so beautiful it can seduce the living and the dead, Euridice, a delectable, dizzy nymph looking for some hot rock-star love action, and Aristaeus, a cloth-capped ordinary bloke whose genius as an inventor inadvertently throws Euridice, the object of his desire, into the arms of his rival Orpheus. Are you still with us? Good.

The play begins in Hades, where Orpheus has come to reclaim his lover from death, and is recounted through a series of flashbacks that tell of the journey that led him there, featuring a smattering of mythological figures from Hercules to Jason and the Argonauts.

All of this is elucidated through quippy one-liners and music played live by the interchanging characters to reveal a meditation on the vanity and superficiality of modern-day pop culture.

The acting is often top rate, the dialogue snappy and well timed, as it needs to be. Karen Ardiff steals the show playing four characters (sometimes in the same scene) seamlessly.

However, there are many flaws to such a hugely ambitious project.

Much of the music is forgettable and Orpheus (Dave Murray) isn't in fact blessed with the strongest of vocal instruments. Oftentimes, it was a struggle to hear him, even in the small confines of the Cube. The plot development is also at times slow, devoting far too much time to simple constructs before moving on. What saves the production is that when it's funny, it's belly-laugh funny, the quips ranging from sexual innuendo to reflections on the self-serving nature of the music business. That said, the humour is abstract and farcical; outside of the story as opposed to bestowing genuine warmth upon the characters.

The ending was bathetic, if not a little confusing, but what better metaphor for dysfunctional relationships than a slightly dysfunctional play. Neil Dunphy

Julius Caesar The Abbey Theatre

WHILE Jason Byrne has been touting his production of Julius Caesar as "stripped down Shakespeare", the tale of politics, corruption and manipulation of the masses remains as "constant as the Northern Star".

As the play opens, the characters espouse some of the most quoted lines in Shakespeare against looming grey concrete walls. The use of lighting to choreograph menacing shadows sets an impressively ominous backdrop as the "lean and hungry" Cassius convinces the honourable Brutus to conspire with him in his plot against Caesar.

However, this production fails to convey Brutus's moral struggle as he weighs up his loyalty to Caesar against the belief among the aristocracy that a crown on Caesar's head will bring the downfall of Rome. At times in the first half, the sleek minimalism of the set and the futuristic feel to the costumes lend an air of sci-fi to the production, which can be something of a a distraction. In the second half, the set becomes a post-apocalyptic battlefield with modern tents and furniture. This again distracts, giving the audience cause to wonder 'when and where is this?'.

The actors work so naturally together in ensemble scenes that any individual weaknesses are disguised. Peter Hanly's Casca lends some comic relief and his fluent delivery makes the language sound almost colloquial. Frank McCusker as Cassius is captivating, stalking the stage crazed with jealousy. However, Declan Conlon's Brutus is unconvincing as the man at war with himself and, although there is chemistry between Brutus and Cassius, Cassius's invidious fury dominates. Aidan Kelly's Mark Antony portrays a convincing demagogue commanding the emotions of the crowd.

There is no ardent agenda-pushing in this production, as may have been the temptation given the evocation of Iraq and the consequences of replacing one tyrant with another. The hunger for power and the manipulation of the masses through skilled oration is an eternal theme.

An entertaining and at times powerful production relying heavily on the actors and little else, hopefully Jason Byrne's ambition for his "stripped down" production will not pay the price.