Unless you have been living in an outer galaxy this past month, you can hardly have failed to notice that Josie Rourke has made her debut as artistic director at the Donmar, a tall order in the wake of Michael Grandage, who turned it into a haunt of theatrical, film and TV stars, while maintaining a serious commitment to classical drama. Ms Rourke has cantered  off to a fine start with Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer, with its likeable cast trying to con the yeoman stock of Shrewsbury into joining the army at the height of England's successes against Napoleon.

Tobias Menzies as the romantically inclined Captain Plume is a study in strutting self-delusion.Mackenzie Crook (naff Gareth   in TV's The Office) shines as the eponymous sort-of hero, bribing, fake-fortune-telling and marrying off seduced maidens after his officer boss has proved that he is no gentleman. Mark Gatiss adds to the burlesque a man who drops so many names he thinks that a conundrum is a character he once met in France. Farquhar's play is verbally dazzling, but it relies a lot on stock puppets: country wenches, ladies with beauty spots and the like. Sheer plate-spinning dynamics help Ms  Rourke carry it off as well as giving us many belly-laughs for the ticket price.

 Some critics think that she has erred by starting her run with a comedy of English manners and military misadventure. That's harsh: Farquhar deserves his place in the stage Restoration revival that is under way. Most of all, the Donmar needs energy and verve and The Recruiting Officer supplies it. I still get the giggles remembering Mr Crook's hapless mouthing of despair to the audience when his machinations run out of control. Farquhar, a contemporary noted, was about "delight not malice". There's still a gap in the market for that.