Most of the crowds packing into the Playhouse this week are surely there to see Maureen Lipman gracing the stage in another great comic role.

The much-loved actress does indeed turn in a bravura performance as the feisty Irish cleaning lady at the centre of Charlotte Jones's funny and touching drama, Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis,.

Afflicted with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (and an obsessive devotion to the Catholic faith), Martha must repeatedly knock five times on every door before opening it, voicelessly going through a prayer as she does so.

But Miss Lipman's is not the only star turn. In fact, there are a satisfying number of peachy parts, expertly played under director Rachel Kavanaugh.

All are decidedly oddball characters.

Indeed, the play, which is set in Bolton, might have been designed to illustrate the truth of the Northern adage that "there's nowt so queer as folk".

The action takes place in the sitting room of a house whose sumptuous vulgarity (plush sofas, tacky Woollies' works of 'art') is neatly presented in Paul Farnsworth's design.

It is the sort of property, you think, that might belong to a tart - which is precisely what its owner Josie, played by the Where the Heart Is favourite Lesley Dunlop, turns out to be.

This fact is, naturally, not known to Martha, though Josie's teenage daughter Brenda-Marie (Michelle Tate) - who appears to suffer from Asperger's syndrome - is dimly aware of her line of work. She admits an ambition to be "a domino lady like me mam".

For 'domino lady' read 'dominatrix'. Josie is a Miss Whiplash.

Her expertise in the field is hilariously demonstrated when her friend Lionel (Derek Hutchinson) appears dressed as a saucy frill-bedecked maid, pleading for punishment.

In mid-bout, however, Josie, announces that today is her 50th birthday and she is hanging up her whip. "I can't dominate any more; I have lost the will."

Putting on a brave face, and resuming more conventional attire, Lionel proceeds to organise a small birthday party for his pal, at which the entertainer is 'Chinese' (actually Vietnamese) Elvis impersonator Tim Wong (Paul Courtenay Hyu).

Everyone in the play loves the King, you see. As Martha explains, speaking of the Second Coming: "I hope that when he comes, he's wearing rhinestone and singing Love Me Tender."

New to the game as young Tim is, he nevertheless shows impressive skill in impersonating Presley, though he might have wished for an easier gig in terms of the emotional discord surrounding him.

The moment eventually comes when Martha, who is being hotly pursued by Jewish Lionel, stumbles upon the nature of her employer's business.

Miss Lipman, in a perfect Irish accent, moans: "Holy Mother of God. I'm stuck in a whorehouse with a Jew."

The line brings the house down.

Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis runs until Saturday at the Oxford Playhouse.