Written for the stage by Anthony Burgess from his novel, the all-male British production was directed by Alexandra Spencer-Jones, who emphasised this was not a retelling of the 1971 film version directed by Stanley Kubrick. Like the novel, it is told in Nadsat, a Russian-influenced slang invented by Burgess.

Martin McCreadie, 26, plays Alex, a young man who loves the music of Beethoven and who leads his gang of ''droogs'' in acts of violence. When he is finally caught and subjected to radical aversion therapy, questions are raised concerning free will and morality.

As McCreadie said, ''No matter how evil someone is, is it ethically right to rob someone of the very thing that makes us human? It's such a contentious question. I'm in a bit of a hard place, inhabiting him night after night, finding ways to excuse his behaviour so I can find reasons for what he does.''

Australia has been the first country after Britain to see the production. McCreadie said: ''It's been brilliant, we've had great audiences.''

He said he was looking forward to seeing how Canberra audiences responded after the ''discerning'' Melburnians and the Sydneysiders who ''responded a lot more; they seemed a lot more up for being taken on the journey''.

Philip Honeywell, 29, said he played a variety of characters, male and female, as did everyone in the cast except McCreadie.

''We get to show off all our capabilities, it stretches us,'' he said.

For him, A Clockwork Orange was about choice.

''Practically every person in the play Alex interacts with steers him in different directions … everyone has some kind of effect, for good or bad.'' He said the tour, his first time in Australia, had been ''great fun'' and although he had only been in Canberra a few days, he was impressed with it.

''Canberra gets some really bad press,'' he said. ''It has a lovely alpine feel, very fresh.''