IN THIS 300th anniversary year of the Treaty of Union, it is fitting that RobertMcLellan'scomedyofpost-Union, 18th century Scotland, The Flouers O Edinburgh, should return to the stage. With its need for detailed period sets and costumes, its upbeat good humour and its large cast, there isn't a playhouse in the country better suited to the piece than Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

One of the many strengths of the Perthshire theatre's summer season is thatitbringstogetherasizeable ensemble to perform six plays in rep over five months. Consequently it is able to stage larger-scale works which mostothertheatrecompaniesin Scotland would either be unable to produce,orcouldonlypresentby having actors double up in a number ofkeyroles.AtPitlochry,director Richard Baron has no fewer than 16 actors at his disposal, requiring doubling only in the cases of three very minor, non-speaking roles.

The play opens in an apartment in Edinburgh'sOldTownintheearly 1760s. There we find recently pardoned Jacobite aristocrat Girzie Carmichael (Carol Ann Crawford), who has been living there since she was forced off her estate after the debacle at Culloden in 1746. There is something of a Restoration farce about proceedings as Lady Carmichael'strusty,andwonderfully informal, servant Jock (Martyn James on top comic form) staggers back and forth, welcoming the panoply of guests who knock on his mistress's door.

The visitors range from the self-proclaimedpoet,theReverendDaniel Dowie (a wonderfully silly performance from Alan Steele) to General von Carmichael (Robin Harvey Edwards's side-splitting Jacobite, turned Francophobic German officer).

There are two hot topics of conversation in the household. One is Scotland'spre-eminentpositioninthe Enlightenment (these are, after all, the timesofDavidHumeandAdam Smith). The other is the need for the Scottishupperclassestolearnto replace their Scots tongue with something called "good English".

Indeed, much humour is extracted fromtheattemptsbytheScottish aristocracyandtheself-appointed members of the literati to speak in a way that would allow them to pass musterinLondonsociety.Lady Carmichael'syoungniece,Kate (Suzanne Donaldson, an appropriately contrary blue-blooded girl), awaits a meeting with Charles Gilchrist (the son of Lord Stanebyres), who has recently returned from his travels. When the young Gilchrist arrives, however, it is in the guise of an English fop with the most preposterously mangled version of the language of Shakespeare.

Grant O'Rourke gives a brilliantly absurdperformanceasGilchrist. Prancing around like a horse with haemorrhoids, and wearing the most tremendouslyflouncyattire,he announces to his hilariously outraged father (played by a truly combustible Crawford Logan) that he wants to go into"powlytics".Hisstrangulated vowels come into play with comic effect when he is describing a fellow aristo as a "count".

O'Rourke's lovely performance only stands out, however, because he is at thecentreofwhatis,intruth,a somewhat overplayed running joke. McLellan's play is an ensemble piece anddirectorBaron,hiscastand designer Ken Harrison (whose sets and costumes are beautifully realised) turn the drama into a colourful theatrical spectacle, rippling with nice comic touches.

Although it contains debates over language,politicsandhistory,The Flouers O Edinburgh has less bite than StuartThomas'sfineplayDamn'd Jacobite Bitches. A light comedy it may be, but it provides a timely reminder of the richness of the Scots language, and a near flawless evening's entertainment.