IT’S back - by popular demand! Portsmouth-based Christian group Top Cat Theatre Company are reviving their family Christmas production Scrub That Manger! for 2004.

Shepherds Bob and Mr Jenkins discover that sheep Lambert has eaten their dinner.

More than 1,000 adults and children saw this production last Christmas in venues across south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. It was revived after churches of different denominations in Eastleigh asked the company to perform it in a town centre location to give families a break from their Christmas shopping on December 11. Other Hampshire churches proved equally keen to stage the play.

Artistic director Neil Pugmire said: “It’s actually the first time we’ve gone back to perform a play that we’d done before. There’s one new scene and one new character, but otherwise it’s very similar. Adults and children seemed to enjoy it last year, so we hope they will again.”

The hour-long play focuses on a family running an ultra-hygienic bed-and-breakfast establishment in Bethlehem. They are desperately cleaning everything for their invited guests when Mary, Joseph and some shepherds arrive to disrupt their plans. Will they get to scrub their manger before the arrival of the Messiah? The play is suitable for children aged five and upwards.

This will be the ninth full-length production by Top Cat Theatre Company, whose members include Christians from churches across Portsmouth. Previous productions include classics such as The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis, performed in 2000, and Walkout! – an adaptation of Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (2002). Other plays by Neil Pugmire include Exile (summer 2004), a thought-provoking drama about asylum seekers, and the futuristic family show The Adventures of the J Team (1998).

The 2004 tour is as follows:

Saturday 4 December (7pm): HAYLING ISLAND, St Andrew’s Church, Southwood Road (no booking required: just turn up).

Sunday 5 December (4pm): PORTSMOUTH, All Saints’ Church, Commercial Road (ring 023-9229 3020 to book tickets).

Saturday 11 December (2pm & 4pm): EASTLEIGH, Leigh Road ballroom (opposite The Point) (ring 023-8061 3210 to book tickets).

Sunday 12 December (9.30am): DENMEAD, All Saints’ Church, Hambledon Road (no booking required: just turn up. Combined with church's toy service).

Sunday 12 December (3pm): LIPHOOK, Liphook Church Centre, Portsmouth Road (ring 01428-725390 to book tickets).

Admission prices vary according to venue. For photos and a review of last year's performances, see: www.topcattheatre.com