FROM the moment the actors set foot on stage, many people in the audience around me were chuckling and I wondered if I’d missed the joke at first.

But it soon became clear that many of them had seen the play more than once and knew what was coming!

For what started at a pub theatre a few years ago, is now a multi-award winning West End smash hit and the fact it is at the Lighthouse for a six night run is a testament to its success.

The play is based on clever theatrical paradox. The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society is putting on a 1920s murder mystery but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong does, from wobbly stage sets and missing props, to collapsing balconies and in-fighting amongst some of the egocentric cast members.

Although this form of slapstick humour isn’t for everyone, the audience on Tuesday night loved it and many people even got to their feet for a standing ovation at the end.

It’s delightfully daft and utterly silly. Sort of Fawlty Towers meets Noises Off.

But you cannot fail to admire the relentless energy of the actors and their expert timing with the physical comedy.

If you enjoy a lively, light hearted farce, there’s still time to see the show which in on until Saturday.