Nearly 50 years after its first performance, What The Butler Saw still has the power to shock.

Joe Orton’s farce, set in a psychiatrist’s practice, is full of delightful chaos and seamy humour, blurring the boundaries of madness and sanity.

Dr Prentice, interviewing his new secretary Geraldine Barclay, is attempting to seduce her when his wife walks in, prompting a tissue of lies and mistakes that descend into chaos.

But when a self-righteous government inspector arrives the farce takes a more satirical tone, attacking his pomposity and selfishness.

Despite the racing (and racy) plot, the play doesn’t come across as rushed, although there are moments when Orton’s script needs a slightly faster delivery.

Brian Capron, whose previous roles include Casualty, Bergerac and a stint on Eastenders, takes well to comedy as the desperate Dr Prentice.

However it is Melissa Clements as Geraldine who really grabs the audience’s sympathy as she is seduced, attacked, forced to cross-dress and declared insane.

Though none of the characters are patients in the psychiatric clinic, by the end the audience is left wondering if they all should be – or, as the humour gets darker and more complicated, if those watching are the ones going mad.

Four stars