THE frenetic burst of Abba’s Money Money Money that opened Ray Cooney’s well known farce should have set the pace for the rest of the show.

Instead, the play set off at a stroll, never quite managing to pick up enough speed to carry off the material to its full potential.

Danny Perkins (Neil Caple) returns home to his Childwall semi having accidentally picked up the wrong briefcase on the 86 bus, setting off a chain of events that involves his wife pretending to be his sister-in-law, his friends becoming his relatives and himself turning into his own brother. As the lies get bigger, the twists get more complicated and the cuckoo clock explodes in a hail of bullets.

But there is little variation in the tempo of dialogue, not enough dashing about, and around 10 minutes could probably be trimmed off each act.

However, director Leslie Lawton did a nice job of tweaking the original script for a Liverpool audience, giving it a local flavour without resorting to tired stereotypes.

Accountant-turned-criminal mastermind Perkins is ably played by Caple, whose facial expressions could easily scoop him first prize in a gurning contest at the end of Blackpool Pier.

Mark Moraghan as Vic, no Percy, no Vic, made a seemingly effortless job of his bewildered-but-affable character.

Placing their roles just on the realistic side of caricature, their timing is perfect as a briefcase holding £2m in used £50 notes is nimbly swapped back and forth with one containing a cheese and chutney sandwich.

A Poirot-style summing-up provides the denouement before the final, not unexpected, twist.

LAURA DAVIS