Principal Parts is a play within a play... within... a play. It’s 1934, and a production is being staged of the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, kicking off the First World War. They’re also putting on a play. Or so it seems.You’ll be forgiven for being a bit confused, but I promise you this works. Henry David’s script employs great bathos and builds a fantastic comedy of errors, though not without its darker moments. Professor Mehmedbasic, staging the production of the 1914 events, introduces and closes the play, giving his account of all he has directed for us. A quote on the company’s programme, and one used in the production, sums it up perfectly: ‘some facts maybe, but no truth at all.’ This isn’t pretending to be historically accurate, it’s being entertaining.It is a witty script, and for the most part well-paced, though occasionally the speed with which lines are delivered can make the performance feel a little over-rehearsed, but this perhaps befits the nature of the production. There were a few oversights on props that could have been easily rectified - baguette ends are ‘sandwiches’, fig rolls are ‘baklava’, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. It is the absurdity and ridiculousness of the characters and their situations that makes for a great show here. In particular, Alice Allemano as Ana brings together the five men under her control, somewhat, in a fantastic performance; she perfectly combines the absurdity of the plot with the seriousness of the subject matter.This is a funny, enjoyable production. Occasionally the energy may be misplaced, but it doesn’t really matter, because nobody’s very likely to leave this show without a smile on their face.