FOR all that he wrote some 25 works for the stage, Joseph Haydn's music is never particularly theatrical. Il mondo della luna, which Opera Theatre Company is touring in a cut-down English version, was the first of Haydn's Operas to be staged at Eszterhaza. The music rarely manages to bring the admittedly artificial situations to life, but is richly melodic in itself.

Majella Cullagh gets to display both her lyrical and comedy skills to great ad vantage, while Colette McGahon grabs a rare chance to shine as a mezzo soubrette.

Christopher Purves, as the put-upon miser who is gulled into believing he has travelled to the moon, is a fine bass who creates a vivid character without resorting to buffo tricks.

Andrew Synnott, who directs his 10-piece orchestra from an electronic keyboard, draws a well balanced performance from all concerned.

Hilary Westlake's production is lucid, humorous and always in sympathy with the buffo ethos of the work. Denis Looby's sets, often quite beautifully lit by Simon Corder, combine a dignified first act with an over-the-top riot of colour props for the mock-moon locale of Act 2.

Life on the Moon can be seen in Derry on Thursday and in Enniskillen on Saturday. Thereafter it travels to Coleraine, Dublin (RDS), Galway, Dundalk, Tralee, Limerick, Kilkenny and Cork.