Entering the Pleasance’s Queen Dome we are officiously directed to our ‘wooden’ benches by Odysseus. It turns out we’re all soldiers locked into the wooden horse that he has built to trick the Trojans in a plan so dripping with deceit, he doesn’t even trust it himself. Deception, you see, it’s Odysseus’s trademark, and we’d do well to remember that.

Especially those among us who really would rather be anywhere else. There’s Anticlus, the jaded veteran, Epeius the revolutionary carpenter, and Echeon the bumbling idiot. Thank goodness for the stolid hero Ajax the Great, as long as he is who we think he is surely we’ll be all right.

Fishing 4 Chips roar through this alternative slice of Greek myth at a pace. No opportunity is missed for word play, puns and tongue twisters, and some great jokes made about some missing characters. Is Oedipus complex, why is Achilles not here?

Freddie Walker as Odysseus is a slimy motivational speaker of a Greek hero. His vaingloriousness knows no bounds as he dismisses the challenges of his querulous crew. Surely, they only have to think of the trinkets that will be thrust upon them by grateful Greeks? Just be careful with naked flames, we’re in a wooden horse.

His soldiers are more interested in avoiding a suicide mission, whether that’s for class-based revolutionary reasons or for pure self-interest. But when rebellion finally happens, it takes a darker turn than expected and it feels like a quite a wrench from the mood of silliness that has reigned so far.

Still, this is quality immersive theatre with the cast in amongst us much of the time. The audience participation is handled well, people are primed and no-one is made to look foolish. There’s quite enough of that from the cast, especially the secret drinker Echeon who hopes losing his sword will get him out of this mess. But what will get us out of it? I can’t give that away, but you’ll leave smiling.

Burning Down the Horse is at Pleasance Dome – Queen Dome until Sun 25 Aug 2024 (except Tue 13) at 13:00