THE whaling ship Pequod slipped anchor at the Drum Theatre last night and sailed in search of the great white whale Moby Dick.

We, the audience, mostly landlubbers, didn't need to be press-ganged into becoming ship mates on this hilarious voyage.

Theatre company Spymonkey have taken Herman Melville's heavily symbolic epic novel and turned it into an hysterically funny entertainment.

For allegory read hilarity and the great thing about this Moby Dick is that you don't need to know anything about the original story to enjoy Spymonkey's brand of stage anarchy.

The writer and director Jos Houben, who is a founder member of Complicite and a professor at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq Paris, has brought all his experience of physical theatre to this wonderfully funny production. He is a master of theatrical invention and his cast, Toby Park, Aitor Bassauri, Petra Massey and Stephen Kreiss have all the skills, interspersing the belly laughs and slapstick with moments of delicate lunacy. They delivered the funniest shanty/hornpipe, a surreal dance between Moby Dick and the ship's figurehead and many other moments of inspired silliness. I agree with critic of Time Out who said that they should be given their own TV series. They have a huge international following and have been likened to the Marx Brothers, Fawlty Towers and Mel Brooks. I would add Charlie Chaplin to the list.

The original music by Tony Park, Graeme Gilmour's stage designs and the imaginative props of Lucy Bradridge all add to the fun.

The audience was delighted with this funny piece of theatre, so if laughter is the best medicine, I recommend that you go to the Drum and treat yourself to an overdose.