THE Play That Goes Wrong, which is at Edinburgh Festival Theatre this week, is a brilliant, hilarious theatrical celebration of every truly awful moment any actor or audience has ever had to endure, writes the Times theatre critic Kerry Black!

First premiered in 2012, this award winning play by the Mischief Theatre Company is currently running on Broadway. Blending physical comedy, slapstick and sheer lunacy, this is one of the funniest plays I have ever had the privilege to review.

I actually saw this play in London a few years ago, in a small theatre and was slightly concerned how the intimacy and audience participation element of that venue would transfer to the larger theatre, but had absolutely nothing to worry about as the cast used the entire Festival theatre to great comical advantage!

In the past few years Mischief Theatre have been lucky enough to appear on television at Christmas, firstly with Peter Pan Goes Wrong, featuring David Suchet, followed by a Christmas Carol That Goes Wrong.

Anyone who has enjoyed these, should rush to the Festival Theatre as their work is a hundred times funnier in real life! In fact, on my last trip to London, I saw Mischief’s latest work, “The Comedy About A Bank Robbery”, which even had the cast suspended on wires.

The play follows the fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society as they attempt to mount a classic 1920’s murder mystery (think Agatha Christie on speed!).

With wobbly scenery, (which looked as though it had escaped from a Scooby Doo set), dodgy props, extreme costume malfunctions and even cast members themselves being replaced midstream due to one calamitous catastrophe after another, this certainly proves the old adage, that no matter what, the show MUST go on.

This is a brilliant show for physical comedy and will appear to audiences who loved One Man, Two Guv’nors.

It is hard to single out one performer from the multitalented cast, but I really enjoyed Jake Curran’s portrayal of the pompous Chris, who plays the Inspector and the company director. Special mention must also go to the stage crew and set designers, especially for the finale scene which Harold Lloyd himself would have been proud of!

If you are looking for a good old fashioned belly laugh, with a dash of Broadway pizzazz, head to the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh this week. The Play That Goes Wrong is on at 7.30pm nightly, plus matinees, until Saturday March 17 , call 0131 529 6000 to book.