UNTIL MARCH 20, BATH: The cut-throat world of publishing in the 1980s was put under the microscope in Simon Gray's comedy which runs until Saturday.

Simon Callow, star of Trial and Retribution, Bright Young Things and Four Weddings and A Funeral, played the lead, Mark Melon, a merciless high-flyer who takes over a publishing house, clears out the dusty old staff and makes the enterprise commercially viable again, keeping the focus firmly on profit rather than quality and literary talent.

Melon, a habitual philanderer, also struggles to maintain a relationship with his teenage son Ned, played by Matt Canavan and long-suffering wife Kate, played by Geraldine Alexander.

Callow narrates his own story, addressing the audience as a WI meeting, assembled to hear the tale of his life and times. From a pinnacle of power, however, Callow undergoes a long and humiliating descent into mental breakdown.

The play is a comedy and Callow's enthusiastic depiction of the pompous entrepreneur slowly losing his marbles complete with tantrums on the floor had the audience in paroxysms of laughter.

Credit is due, however, to the host of satellite characters, including Robin Soans as the has-been publisher relegated to the dusty attic and Tom Beard, who played a host of bit parts, including Michael the failed writer, who makes it as a top-class editor of fiction and poetry.

The set was flexible and effective, moving the scenes from office to bar, home to therapist's couch, with a subtle 1980s flavour, including some low-key music from the era.

Sarah Singleton

The Holy Terror by Simon Gray

Bath Theatre Royal