Ben Duke is a slightly shambolic figure. He addresses us first as himself, standing on a large circular plastic sheet, which at the end will fill with water as he performs his final five-minute rant in a shower from above.

Having made his mark, he launches into his version of Milton’s telling of the creation of the world, and of man, in which he plays all the major characters. God is lonely, so first he creates heaven and the angel Lucifer and the heavenly host. God meets Lucifer in a bar, and asks him for his phone number.

They set up house together, until they fall out and Lucifer is banished. Now God creates Jesus, and then, in a wild contorted dance, he creates the universe and eventually the earth. Adam is born in a cloud of smoke, through which Duke appears in a flesh-coloured body-stocking, with rampant fig-leaf already in place. Making Eve is a painful business. Her conversation with the serpent (a glove- puppet), is full of clever dialogue.

This is a funny and also a thoughtful piece. It would be a virtuoso performance of dance, drama, mime and multiple characters if it were done better, but there is a bumbling feel about the whole thing.

Taken more seriously, there is also a giant gap between the devout Milton and the sceptical Duke, who shows us a God who regrets the mess he has made of the world; a bitter and disappointed God, who finally gives us an apocalyptic vision of his creation’s future, with death and suffering as our companions.

There’s an interesting choice of music from the crashing opening to the beautifully sung Battle Hymn of the Republic, a final irony to which his guilt-ridden God does a sad little dance, before disappearing.

This is an enjoyable piece but it needs to be sharper and more disciplined.

3/5