FORGET Sunday school, if you really want to catch the spirit of the Bible, in all its epic scope, go to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company's Complete Word of God as it tours the country.

The group, famous for reducing The Bard's complete works down to a matter of minutes, have worked their magic on the most famous book in history, putting together a show that had the audience reduced to tears of laughter.

The play took us methodically through the Bible, and every book got a mention, including some I'd never heard of!

From Genesis to Job, Habakkuk to Malachi, "Ecclesiasticus" to Maccabees and Titus to Revelation, all the books of the Bible were presented.

Even though I've never made it through

Whether you've read all the Bible or not,myself, I was in good company. Only two people in the crowd admitted to reading it all the way through anyway.

But the show is presented in such a happy-go-lucky way that even the youngsters will howl with laughter along with the adults.

Performers Simon Jermond, Norman Naudain and Christie Peter-Watson made sure nobody in the audience was offended, even when Jesus was resurrected after the crucifixion as a pink Easter bunny complete with basket of eggs!

And the performance was bang up to date, with mentions of George W Bush, Ken Livingstone and Anna Kournikova making it into the 'alternative 10 commandments.'

The creation of the Earth, the story of Noah's ark, and the final book of the bible, Revelation, were set to music, supplied on stage by the versatile cast.

For me the only disappointment in the whole of the two-hour laugh-a-thon was the turnout.

The Charter Theatre in Preston was barely a quarter full, and I'd like to see everyone in town have a chance to see this amazing, hilarious and heartfelt show.

The show was hilarious right from the opening scene when an elderly God starts singing the blues.