LONDON Just up the road from his Downing Street residence, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is being torn apart every night -- and it is all in the name of satire.

The timing could not be better -- the hit farce "Feelgood" has them "rolling in the aisles" in London's Theaterland in the run-up to a general election widely expected next month.

Playwright Alistair Beaton, who once wrote speech gags for Britain's dour Finance Minister Gordon Brown, reserves his greatest scorn for the Labour Party's spin doctors -- but Blair gets a rough ride too.

One critic said actor Jonathan Cullen "offers a devastating impression of Tony Blair at his worst, brilliantly nailing the fake spontaneity, the false humility and the oleaginous creepiness of our beloved leader in full flow."

But it is Eddie the crazed spin doctor who is Beaton's finest comic creation in the play that has audiences chortling over topical barbs about everything from May Day riots to the transport minister being stranded on a broken-down train.

Actor Henry Goodman steals the show as a devious press secretary determined to bury the scandal at all costs. A crazed control freak, he ruthlessly crushes resistance and manipulates the media. Blackmail works wonders with weak opponents.

In an age when Labor is mocked for its obsession with spin doctors and sound bites, **** The Guardian **** newspaper sent its political correspondent Michael White along to take a look at how accurate the satire was. His conclusion: "Mr. Blair will hate it. I liked it."

----- Beaton Delighted With the Nightly Feedback -----

"I have been observing the audience's reaction and theirs is a laughter of anger," the Scottish comic writer said. "I hope it causes some offence in high places."

Margaret Thatcher once gamely came to watch a satirical play about her husband Denis. Blair has not yet put in an appearance at "Feelgood" -- and that suits Beaton.

"In totalitarian regimes they lock dissenters up. In liberal societies they invite you to tea, which is just as dangerous, so I don't really want Blair to come," the writer told **** The Times****.

And he concluded with a salvo at Blair's ruling party:

"Labour cannot cope with mockery and it doesn't trust wits. They say it's because they have to worry about the media. Churchill was able to be funny, and he only had to worry about Hitler," Reuters said.