Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s alma mater ceased to exist almost a quarter of a century ago, so quite what they’re doing still on the road is a bit of a mystery.

But their motto is fabula pergendum – continue this story - and the show does go on.

Mischief Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong just won an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, so an immediate spin-off with almost the same name is probably just good business sense.

Getting it this wrong takes great skill and there are plenty of very funny moments: Nana the dog must be chainsawed free of the nursery door while Mrs Darling sings a lullaby, and tangles in the murky mermaid lagoon result in a very undignified puppetry pile-up. Many audience members shrieked with laughter from the moment the house-lights were dimmed.

The old jokes are the best, perhaps. They certainly sell well, and the appetite for theatrical pratfall has never waned.

But when compared to the many comically self-aware shows out there – One Man Two Guv’nors is a good example – this not-quite-Noises Off starts to look as two dimensional as its collapsing sets.

And that’s probably enough to be going wrong with for now.

Three stars