England People Very Nice

Frogs, micks, yids, pakis and Somalis (don't they deserve their personal pejorative nickname?) have all settled in Bethnal Green over the centuries and eventually mixed with the existing population. Richard Bean's boisterous account - akin to the 'Horrible Histories' series- is even-handed in its abuse as a group of asylum seekers put on a play which describes successive waves of immigration to the East End of London. Bean has saddled himself with a vast amount of history to portray and consequently most of the characters are stereotypes in what is really more of a revue. There's little he tells us that most people won't have heard before. But the joy of the show lies in its outrage and energy, and Bean's great skill in planting a joke. He is helped by Pete Bishop's Pythonesque animations and by Nicholas Hytner's rumbustious production. Hanging over the stage is Gordon Brown's disastrous pronouncement of 'British jobs for British people'. Big, brash and bold, Bean's play won't appeal to sensitive souls.