PHANTOM Productions is the revolutionary theatre wing of Strathclyde

region social work department and last night's performance was the end

of the first run of their inaugural show.

Written by two members of the social work staff -- Tommy Crocket and

Gordon Wilson -- The Ghost Of Benjy O'Neil compares the work being done

today with the situation of 100 years ago, by the simple device of

placing a benign ghost (David Tennant) from Glasgow's Barnhill Poors

House in the assessment centres and children's panels of today.

Part history and part pantomime, the cast was drawn (in roughly equal

thirds) from the local area and youngsters from children's homes and

assessment centres. But despite the large numbers involved and the

static nature of some of the scenes, directors Mercedes McGurn and

Eleanor Goodman -- both recent RSAMD graduates -- kept things moving

briskly enough, particularly in the second act with its ''Ghostbusters''

hook for the young audience.

Both the script and the songs were not afraid to tread on a few

political toes, and the transition from the 1870s was best captured in

the comparison between the parochial board and the children's panel. The

amateur actors reappeared as their modern counterparts, none more

effectively than Susie Cox's transition from ferocious matron to

simpering residential children's officer.

This production has further performances in Dumbarton and Bearsden,

but it is only the beginning of the 1990 project. Look out for a Phantom

production appearing near you.