If a show is called On The Piste and is billed as a Hilarious Adult Comedy, you can just about take it for granted that it's going to be written by John Godber. Godber, you remember, was the man behind Bouncers, the Hilarious Adult Comedy that ran and ran at the Tivoli in 1995. Sure enough, from Tuesday he's back at the Tivoli with the Irish premiere of his new show, On The Piste, which is, as its name suggests a Hilarious Adult Comedy set in a ski resort in Austria. Seamus Power and Tara Quirke of Fair City fame play Chris and Alison, a couple who have survived 10 years of "togetherness" but decide a ski trip might just pep things up. In Austria they meet Bev (Ann Marie McAuley) and Dave (David Gorey), a couple of very happy Dubs - until Dave's eyes start wandering quicker than his skis. Throw into the mix Peter Warnock (also Fair City) as a dishy Austrian ski instructor and English actress, Katy Barfield playing a classy (i.e. snobby) lone tourist and you have all the ingredients for a classic Godber play.
As with the successful Irish production of Bouncers, Godber has re-written the original script to give it an Irish slant - the couples are from Dublin and the references are to matters Irish rather than Yorkshire, Godber's home county. In fact, this is the third re-write the show has undergone since it opened in 1992. Graham Watts, the English director of the show, explains: "John re-wrote On The Piste for a Bill Kenwright production of the show in the West End, but he turned it into a sleazy comedy and John wasn't happy at all. So I re-did it in Hull where it was a huge success and then we decided to bring it to Dublin. So John rewrote it again."
So be warned, sleazy comedy it's not - saucy maybe, but sleazy never. Still the presence of a sauna on-stage means there is some hope for all you sleaze-meisters out there and Watts says there is a bit of topless carry-on in the show: "You require nudity to make some scenes funny, it's not there to titillate the audience". To be fair, Niki Turner's stage design also contains a fully operational ski-slope, a chair lift and a hillside that opens up like an Advent calendar. The ski-slope is covered with state-of-the-art dry-slope material and the actors go down it very fast. Still, that's alright because they've been rehearsing at the Kilternan Sport Hotel - I swear, I'm not taking the piste.
On The Piste opens at the Tivoli Theatre on Tuesday. For more information call 01 4544472