As the Traverse’s Gordon Brown: A Life in Theatre drew one of the most uproarious and politically germane experiences of 2010, Edinburgh’s new writing theatre set up for round two of their regime-ridiculing. As the results came flooding in of the SNP’s overwhelming victory in the Scottish elections, a new age of anti-Cameron, nationalised politics came into focus.

With Welcome to the Hotel Caledonia, it would be nice to think a new age of political theatre could be continually pushed into the mainstream, as again, this production did not let down. Directed by David Greig and penned by multiple Scottish writers including Peter Arnott and Rona Munro, this year’s political laughalong is set inside the small, Highlands hotel as Barrie Hunter, Andrew Scott Ramsay and Ashley Smith embody various stereotypes from Lithuathian receptionist Svetlana to the stressed, overworked Cameron. Poor him.

Motored by a hanging slide show featuring images of Scottish landscapes, architecture and arses, the performance is divided into seven volumes, all taken from the drunken ramblings of commissioned writers – or so they say. Yet Hunter’s anger feels genuine as he details “6 reasons why I hate George Galloway” – the best perhaps being “he just shouts!” Though the images draw the occasional cheap laugh, they compliment the nature of the night; light, direct and channelled. Yet the script grows into the occasion; from initially laughing at Neds and Galloway, the characters begin to vent their anger towards a resurfacing Thatcherite ideology, of social welfare cuts and a banking crisis which has threatened the economic fabric of our society. The writers do well to satirise as much as possible in the hour and a half they have, building an ironic language underneath the façade of the play’s setting.

Though this production doesn’t quite live up to the roaring success of last year’s election special, it still finds its place as overwhelmingly relevant. This doesn’t downplay how enjoyable the performance is however, as all three actors take to the script-in-hand production with a zeal which only inflames and enlightens further. As jovial as the performance is however, perhaps most sobering is the hotel owner’s plea for success when he states “the future of this hotel relies on a sexy advertising campaign”, speaking volumes to the political propaganda and demagoguery we see drooling from the lips of our clueless, detached leaders. It’s just a shame we haven’t fully seen through their bullshit campaigns yet.