A quick-witted satirical farce set in the Whips' office at Westminster.

It's a week before Christmas, and the new Tory government is facing dissent over its latest Bill. With a majority of only three, the Whips' office is out in full force, and they'll stop at nothing to keep the strays in line.

But they're in for a long night: boy scouts are rioting in Whitehall, the PM's golfing with the President, five Tory rebels are on the loose and the Chief Whip's playing at Santa – could this be the beginnings of a leadership challenge?

Steve Thompson's play Whipping It Up is a fast-moving switchback of a comedy, with more twists and double-bluffs than a poker game between conmen.

It was first staged at the Bush Theatre, London, in November 2006, in a production starring Richard Wilson. It transferred to the West End in March 2007.

'The sharpest new comedy of the year'

'Pungent... the funniest political satire since Alistair Beaton's Feelgood'

'A vitriolic political comedy that makes the average alligator pond look like a health spa'

Steve Thompson is a writer whose plays include Damages (Bush Theatre, 2005), Whipping It Up (Bush Theatre & West End, 2006/07), Roaring Trade (Paines Plough/Soho Theatre, 2009), No Naughty Bits (Hampstead Theatre, 2011) and Feed the Beast (Birmingham Rep/New Wolsey Theatre, 2015). He has written for TV shows including Sherlock (BBC/Hartswood), Doctor Who (BBC) and Silk (BBC).