FOR its first venture, new York company The Dreaming Theatre Production Company strides into the world of Terry Pratchett.

Pratchett happily acceded to the request of director Lee York and his co-writer Scott Harrison to adapt the shortest of the Discworld tales, albeit with page after page of conditions attached. Should he take up the invitation of a pair of free tickets, no doubt he would agree with the Pratchett enthusiasts gathered last night who expressed pleasure at the adaptation's veracity.

Like any writer who invents parallel worlds that reflect our own - whether it be Tolkien, CS Lewis or J K Rowling - Pratchett has his devotees and yet means diddly squat to others. This reviewer falls in to the latter camp but it would be churlish to deny the theatrical appeal of Pratchett's imaginative work with its wizards, demons, magic, time travel and egg and cress sandwiches.

As Lee York says: "Eric contains all Pratchett's hallmarks: a good story, funny one-liners and great characters."

That story involves 14-year-old failed demonologist Eric Thursley (Peter Phillips) attempting to summon a demon to grant him what every male teen wants: to live for ever, rule the world and have the love of the most beautiful woman who ever lived. Instead he summons the worst practitioner in all Discworld, Rincewind (the wild, woolly, amusingly befuddled Lee Ravitz, who returns to Clifford's Tower after playing Polonius and the Gravedigger in Hamlet last summer).

Over 19 episodes they encounter demons in the booming, dome-headed form of Aidan McCarthy and Andrew Welch; a big-mouthed parrot voiced by Kirsty McIntyre, who also turns herself into a demanding child; and John Buckeridge's huge and hairy Urglefloggah.

Dave Hudson, in his professional debut after more than 25 years with the likes of the Haxby Players, acquits himself well in four cameos; Matthew Walker plays five parts with gusto, not least when manoeuvring the wooden, multi-legged box of Luggage with his body flat out, hands to the floor.

York (or Harris, as he calls himself when writing) and Harrison have created a humorous, noisy and lean piece of Pratchett theatre - two rollicking hours - that will appeal most to fans but may convert newcomers to Terry's world.

After this solid open-air start, The Dreaming moves indoors to The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde in October and A Christmas Carol in December. Keep an eye on them.

The Dreaming Theatre Production Company, Clifford's Tower, York, until July 26. Box office: 01904 628787 or on the door.

Updated: 12:40 Tuesday, July 08, 2003