Chavs are a fashionable target at this year's Fringe. Burberry, it would seem, is the new black when it comes to comic material. And so, Mikey the Pikey - the Chav musical - isn't such a surprising show to appear in the listings for Edinburgh.
Whilst the Chav character is ruthlessly jibed, there's also a moving human story here. Mikey, born in a skip outside the Star Nightclub, seeks to better himself in the pursuit of the unobtainable, and middle-class, Angela Jessops. On the way he discovers its his friends on the sink estate where he lives that stand by him when the system lets him down.
More rock-opera than musical, Mikey the Pikey features a strong score of sharply satirical numbers, with glorious choreography that make a simple idea ridiculously funny. This is also the first show I can remember seeing where the stagehands can steel a scene, receiving rapturous applause from the audience.
The cast are a hugely talented bunch, delivering both dialog and song with confidence and comic timing. The show has come in for some criticism that it doesn't do anything about the Chav plight; but honestly, I think they are missing the point. This class-struggle story is as old as the hills, but the packaging is a parody.