Theatre preview: The Doubtful Guest, Plymouth

Based on one of Edward Gorey's pieces of supreme "literary nonsense", Hoipolloi's whimsical show is a delight for all ages. This is a very clever piece of theatre which plays on play and make-believe and also excavates Gorey's comedy for its many meanings. Set in a large country house where the family are keen on amateur dramatics, the story concerns the unexpected arrival of a strange, penguin-like creature that takes up residence and behaves rather oddly. The family are unsure what to make of their new guest, and the beauty of Gorey's story and this show is that it is open to interpretation. The creature could be a poltergeist, a figment of the family's imagination or even an asylum seeker. The mix of the comic and the sinister is beautifully handled, and Hoipolloi inventively make the point that, while home can be a castle, it can be a prison too.