There are plenty of literary and historical references in The Corn Exchange's award-winning tragic farce.

It's a tumbling, chaotic tour round Dublin on one day in 1904, à la Ulysses. Its title is derived from the laundry/prison in Joyce's Dubliners. The plot is loosely based around the 1904 founding of Dublin's Abbey Theatre.

But you don't need to spot these to enjoy this rollicking tale of a feverish attempt to create an Irish National Theatre Of Ireland - a dream the dissolute characters plan to realise on the day of a visit by the king.

On a bare stage, with a piano accompaniment, the six-strong cast, in striking, kabuki-like face paint, draw on slick comic delivery and impressive mimetic skills to deliver a commedia dell'arte-style drama that requires them to play 30-odd characters.

The seething, lurid underbelly of turn-of-the-last-century Dublin is viscerally evoked in Michael West's affectionately melodramatic work, beautifully directed by Annie Ryan.

Louis Lovett is outstanding as playwright Willy Hayes, struggling to achieve his dream in the face of his demanding benefactress Eva St John (Karen Egan) and his unpredictable rebel brother Frank (Tadhg Murphy).

The ending is deliciously bleak after the laughs along the way - a robust, abrupt end to a vigorously innovative production.

Until May 5, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road FW6, Tue to Sat 7.45pm, Sun 6pm, Sat mats 2.30pm, £20 to £25, £15 to £16 concs. Tel: 020 8237 1111. Tube: Hammersmith