KATY Burgess and Paula Hudson work in theatre in education; Daniel Sproats is a teacher; Iain Thompson's latest project is a play about drugs.

A couple of nights a week, however, they turn their attention away from contemporary issues to surf on a wave of nostalgia as the Northern Theatre Company.

First it was their Flanders & Swann revue, The Gasman Cometh, which visited Oak House last year.

On their return, they turned their harmonious, dextrous singing gifts to another musical talent whose incisive wit peaked years before any of this quartet was born.

Tom Lehrer, grand master of American political satire and musical parody, is the subject of a fast-moving revue by the four twentysomethings from Hull. With preppy suits for the boys and print dresses for the girls, they look as polished and neatly turned out as Lehrer's barbed lyrics.

Taking the show's name from one of his most anarchic song titles, they adopt American accents to tell his life story, illustrating each observation with songs that ally Lehrer's verbal gymnastics and acerbic comments to smart and brisk choreography. The wit is so quick you wish at times for an instant replay, but there is always another ego-pricking putdown to savour.

Lehrer once said satire died the day Henry Kissinger received the Nobel Peace Prize. However, the British and American governments are doing their very best to re-awaken it, and NTC can't resist updating lyrics to whack Bush and nail Blair.

Updated: 10:37 Saturday, February 07, 2004