THERE'S a lot to be said for new plays - and not all of it good, as getting it right first time isn't easy. So York Theatre Royal's current season, commendably chock-a-block with fresh work, is riskier than sticking to the tried and tested.

The Derby McQueen Affair is the first original play by actor-writer Nick Lane, whose Beauty And The Beast and Hunchback Of Notre Dame adaptations have provided some of the most entertaining moments in The Studio. Here, Tim Welton's slick production can't disguise the fact that this doesn't quite hold together as a play. What's there is both entertaining and thought-provoking - not a bad combination - as three impoverished ex-students collect money for a fictitious, dying girl whose face has been created through computer technology. This "charity begins at home" idea snowballs until Derby has become a national icon and her charity big business.

The real villain of the piece is not so much Tom (Zach Lee), who dreams up the con, as the unscrupulous journalist (James Lauren) who exploits the situation for himself. The idea that people give blindly to charity without bothering to check where it's going is believable enough, but Lane doesn't convince me they could have continued with the deception for as long as they do. The script has its fair share of funny lines (although some farcical business involving dropped trousers and a money-stuffed sock seem out of place) and the four players do as much as they can with the sketchy roles.

* Runs until July 10. Tickets (01904) 623568.

Published: 01/07/2004