There were so many good things in the two hours of Music Theatre Wales' House Of The Gods, a new comic chamber opera with music by Uckfield-born Lynne Plowman and librettist Martin Riley.

It began with two Celtic gods, Ma and Da, living a twilight life in a seedy East End pub with their daughter Lilly. In the cellar lurked Uncle Crom, busy developing weapons of mass destruction, including a magic potion which lacked only a secret ingredient.

To their pub came Jack, a shellshocked soldier home on medical leave from the battlefields of the First World War.

While Crom experimented, Ma and Da argued. Da wanted the good old days back, when all warriors were heroic.

But Ma was fed up with being immortal and yearned to end her days running a seaside bed and breakfast rather than selling sex to supplement the pub's meagre income.

What followed was part pantomime, part melodrama, part Brechtian morality tale and a piece of musical theatre which was totally and utterly absorbing.

The opera came with an adults-only rating. When Ma, in her alter-ego as the Morigu, Celtic goddess of life, death and love, seduced - or rather raped - Jack, leaving him on the verge of death and reliving his experiences, some seats flipped up and members of the audience walked out.

There were many references to Irish mythology, magic and the biblical Fall, including even a reference to the myth of the Angel Of Mons.

The whole heady brew was delivered by a highly talented ensemble cast led by the feisty mezzo soprano Fiona Kimm and the exceedingly sinister Phillip Sheffield.

While you may not have come out of the theatre whistling any of the songs, Plowman's music was easily accessible, with elements of composers as diverse as Stravinsky, Kurt Weill and Benjamin Britten.

She provided some splendid arias and there was a marvellous duet for Ma and Da which was both funny and moving. Overall, this was one of the finest modern operas I have seen, chock full of jokes. What a shame Brighton only had it for one night.