Written and directed by Andy Thompson. A Virtual Stage production. At the Roundhouse Community Centre until October 20

Much to my disappointment there's no spanking, but there are some fantastic elements in SPANK!

Andy Thompson's new script is about a genetic researcher named Doug who injects himself with a serum that promises enlightenment but delivers a darker realization: the world we accept as real is a video game that's being played by petty beings from a higher realm. (This perspective is a lot like the Greek view of the relationship between humans and gods: a weird mix of determinism and free will.)

Like Doug, played here by Peter Wilson, audience members have to figure out his reality. On the one hand, this makes for an engaging mystery. On the other, there are so many conventions to work with that it's hard to relax and feel confident that they're consistent.

I'm also unclear on Doug's reason for launching his quest. I know he's having problems at work but I don't understand in concrete terms exactly what he hopes to win.

There's lots of fun to be had, though, including in the high-tech staging. Doug runs to work in front of an animated backdrop of traffic. And, in a totally trippy sequence, Doug bobs around in the air, suspended from a harness, as he gets sucked through an animated vortex.

Sasa Brown, who plays Flower Vines, a porn-video character who comes to life, delivers the knockout performance in an evening of solid acting. Near the top of the second half, Flower's body channels the spirits of several wildly different characters. I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of the softness of Brown's beauty and the hard edge of her comic inventiveness””of the demons she was spewing. This woman is going to be a star.

And the production is a significant achievement for this whole group of artists, especially Thompson.