It is always somehow a surprise that one of Irving Berlin’s greatest hits – “There’s No Business Like Show Business” – derives from this Wild West tale of guns and romance, but as Richard Jones’s hugely enjoyable revisionist production at the Young Vic points out, this is very much a show about showbiz. At its heart is the tale of sharp-shooting Annie Oakley and her volatile affair with her rival Frank Butler, but around them spin agitated managers, conspiring to maximise box-office no matter what it takes. Jones, updating the action to the 1940s, takes packaging as a theme: the whole show, he reminds us, turns on popular imagery of the old Wild West: cowboys, Indians and bad, bad men.

Anything you can do: Jane Horrocks as Annie

This tongue-in-cheek approach wouldn’t work if it weren’t affectionate, but Jones’s production has a twinkle in its eye that is hard to resist. There are still too many rough edges to the staging, but it is often fun. The action unfolds on Ultz’s narrow, letterbox set, a reference perhaps to CinemaScope, and the exuberant costumes ensure that there are as many sharp suits as sharpshooters on stage. Jason Carr has rescored the music for four pianos, giving it delicacy but also a saloon bar twang. As Annie and company travel across America by train, the iconic scenery trundles by on a conveyor belt. When she executes the tricks that secure her fame but alienate her man, the whole episode is played out, drolly, by sound effect.

It is sometimes too gimmicky and the sight lines are problematic, but what saves the show from drifting into parody is that the love story at its heart is genuinely touching. Jane Horrocks as Annie is no big-belting mama but a funny, scrawny, spirited little woman who just cannot play girlie games. She falls for Julian Ovenden’s splendidly dishy Frank with all the finality and finesse of a mighty redwood hitting the ground. Her accent wanders and her voice can’t handle the range of some songs, but she delivers them with beguiling spirit and brings great vulnerability to “They Say It’s Wonderful”. Ovenden complements her delightfully: with his rich voice and easy charm he gives us a confident man who suddenly finds himself knocked sideways by love.

There are pleasing performances too from John Marquez as a smooth-talking fixer and Niall Ashdown as the reluctant backer, Sitting Bull. Not quite a bull’s eye, then, but a darn good shot.

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