Well-meaning and mild-mannered Arnold convenes the meetings in his home, spending much of the time refereeing for the members of the group, who don’t much like each other. And that’s just the beginning; it’s a hilarious roller coaster ride, Ayckbourn-style.

Director, Corille Fraser, has produced a fine production with an excellent ensemble cast, ably led by Jerry Hearn as Arnold.

The enormous Tudor-style living room set, nicely designed by Wayne Shepherd, who also composed the original music, takes on a life of its own with ingenious changes as the plot thickens.

The set is complemented by Miriam Miley Read’s fun costumes, moody lighting by Chris Ellyard and atmospheric sound effects by Michael Moloney.

Watching the nimble and expert cast play out this jumble of deliberately bad writing – clichéd Victorian melodrama, futuristic science “friction”, incomprehensible Agatha Christie-style murder mystery and cheesy musical with an occasional instruction manual thrown in – is a delight from start to finish.

The strength of Ayckbourn’s writing is displayed both in his finely drawn, only-too-human characters and his ability to bend the rules of farce without breaking them.