JOHN Godber's revival of his 1992 skiing comedy, On The Piste, is taking to the slopes this week at Hull Truck Theatre for a cresta run until January 12.

The Hull Truck auditorium, in Spring Street, has been transformed by designer Pip Leckenby into the festive paradise of the snowy vistas of the Austrian Alps, and theatres from Durham to Greenwich will undergo a similar make-over on the subsequent nationwide tour - including the Grand Opera House, York, from February 4 to 9.

On the Piste packs off DJ and first-time skier Chris Baxter and his colleagues on the holiday of a lifetime in which their fidelity will be tested to the max on a hazardous course of Alpine love. Shenanigans abound and tempers fray, on and off the Piste, in this comic slalom starring Daniel O'Brien as Chris alongside Adrian Buchet, Dawn Finnerty, Mark Lennock, Jaqueline Naylor and Loveday Smith.

Explaining his decision to take to the slopes again, writer-director Godber re-traces the play's chequered history: "I directed the first version of On The Piste when it premiered at Chesterfield's Pomegranate Theatre in 1991 and, although I didn't realise it at the time, it was very much a 'work in progress'.

"Since I'd played Rugby League on stage in Up'n'Under, done judo on stage in Blood Sweat And Tears and even had weight-lifting in my first play, Cramp, I thought the idea of skiing on stage would be easily achieved. How wrong I was!"

The 'astra-turf' floor covering made for difficult skiing conditions. "The only way we could make the actors actually move was if we laminated the underside of their ski's with bubble bath. Imagine the scene, every time an actor came off the set, the poor stage management had to apply bubble bath to a fresh pair of skis!" Godber recalls. "If, as happened regularly on tour, water came into contact with the skis, the actors found that they were not only skiing, but creating a fine line in lavender bubbles on the set at the same time!"

After a re-working in 1993, the play was premiered at the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch, directed by Bob Tomson, rather than Godber, with a cast including EastEnders stars Nick Berry and Michelle Collins.

"By this time we'd over-come the problems of skiing on stage and the actors could concentrate on their acting. The set at the Queen's Theatre had a huge revolve, flying gear and a grand piano. The production was simply glorious and transferred into the West End," Godber says.

Until this year, he had never directed the revised version. "I've always stood on the sideline watching the play work, even for the last Hull Truck rendition, directed by Grahame Watts in 1995. So, I'm now faced with the ultimate challenge. Skiing on stage sounded like a great idea back in 1992; now I have to direct it myself, I'm beginning to wonder..."

On The Piste, Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, running until January 12, 8pm. Closed on December 24 to 26, December 31 and January 1. Box office: 01482 323638.