I laughed all the way through Work In Progress. I thought it was hilarious. Then I noticed that my friend, who was sitting next to me, was not laughing nearly as much. When I asked her why, she said it was because she didn't understand a lot of the jokes. I realised then that, as brilliant as Work In Progress is, it can only properly be understood amongst people who have studied drama at university. There are too many in-jokes. It's a history of theatre as understood by people who have already thoroughly researched it, practiced it, and lived it, perhaps so much so that they've forgotten that there are people who won't understand gags about Brecht. Or Pinter. Or Stanislavski. I loved it. In fact, I would say that if you're contemplating going to study drama at university, you should definitely go and see this show, because it seemed to sum up my degree in a nutshell. In fact, don't bother to go to university at all. See this show intead. Take notes, button-hole one of the actors later on so they can explain the more inexplicable jests, and then do something sensible with your life instead. Please don't think that this is an insular, elitist show, because it isn't. It's a quick - paced, extremely funny, occasionally lazy history of theatre. This is an extremely talented, local company. One to look out for. ŠAriadne Cass 7th August 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com