Dandy Dick, Theatre Royal Brighton For decades a monolithic, if not moribund, place - with its wall-to-wall musicals, ageing punters and extortionately expensive tickets - theatreland is suddenly alive with the cries of revolution. In the capital, Michael Grandage is throwing open the gates of the citadel to the younger generation, by putting on sale 100,000 seats at his new company's first season for just £10 a time. The boss of the Ambassador Theatre Group hopes to turn the Theatre Royal, Brighton, into a major production house, and talks about "a shift from the centre of the theatrical landscape" being under way. Dandy Dick is the first play from Panter's Theatre Royal Productions, and, after its opening in Brighton, it is heading off to eight regional venues before hopefully coming into London. Although the actress is scarcely as well-upholstered as Margaret Rutherford, she brings all of that late grand dame's purse-lipped, thigh-slapping, jolly-hockey-sticks oomph to her role. This Victorian All Gas and Gaiters is the sort of show one would normally expect to see played out in a minor playhouse by second division actors against threadbare backdrops. Christopher Luscombe's production, however, has clearly had some money spent upon it. The sets are splendid, and so, too, are the supporting players, such as the fruity-voiced Michael Cochrane as Hodge's partner in crime. Florence Andrews and Jennifer Rhodes add glamour to the proceedings as the Very Reverend's spirited daughters, and there is a side-splittingly funny double act from Matt Weyland and Rachel Lumberg as the local Bobby and his voluptuous wife. The production has about it something of the air of Matthew Warchus's Boeing Boeing - a basic old recipe lovingly served up with the best possible ingredients, which somehow magically transforms itself into theatrical haute cuisine. On its own terms, it goes down very well. Beyond that, as the opening shot in Panter's revolution, I would say it's a promising start. A battle won, if not yet a war. Tours to Sept 1; www.atgickets.com