THE Welsh National Opera's new production of Cosi Fan Tutte throws up every seaside conceit imaginable. There’s no stopping director Benjamin Davis.

Candyfloss, helter-skelters, Redcoats, Punch and Judy shows - he’s made quite a list. Obese, bikinied women swap bawdy sausage jokes straight out of a Donald McGill postcard. Which I notice, are on sale from a kiosk, stage right.

The action centres around “Botticelli’s Ice Cream Parlour“, which doubles as a B&B for sisters Fiodiligi and Dorabella. Davis recasts their maid Despina (Joanne Boag) as the archetypal Blackpool landlady - whose patbutcheresque pearls of wisdom drive her charges into the hands of Don Alfonso (Neal Davies).

Davies’ performance is a highlight for me. He’s the first member of the cast to emerge, Tartan suited and swigging from a hip flask - rather like myself on a night out. He commands the action throughout - and comes described in the programme as a “local pier entertainer”.

It’s a grand idea - portraying Don Alfonso as the puppeteer of the action, manipulating heart-strings for cheap, daytrip money. But such scheming puppetry would be far too dark for this Cosi Fan Tutte. Instead Davis chooses to plunge his cast into an all-out, light hearted, Carry On Mozart romp.

Countless cigarettes are lit up stage. Beer bottles are smashed back by brothers Ferrando and Guglielmo - who sport joke shop noses. Fish and chip wrappers get thrown into the wings. Fiordiligi gets her tattoo out.

It's a little too racy for my liking - but I love this mash up of high and low culture. I look forward to seeing more of it outside on George Street after the curtain goes down - without the spellbinding soprano of Elizabeth Watts (Fiordiligi) and Maire Flavin (Dorabella), of course.

This is a tremendously fun production. The audience seems to lap it up. Darling, why take our holidays in Marbella when we can go to the seaside with WNO?