IN a world of streaming, internet downloads, animation and CGI a great many people will never get the chance to enjoy real life performance in person.

They will bypass musical theatre, plays and concerts because it's too much trouble. In their eyes, everything is available at the flick of a switch.

Well, they simply don't know what they are missing and this evening, at Southend's Cliffs Pavilion together with what appeared to be a virtually full house, you could not wish to have seen a better example of real life entertainment at its best.

The Mischief Theatre production of 'The Play That Goes Wrong' is running at the Cliffs until Saturday. If you possibly can, get along to see it and I have no doubt you will leave the theatre smiling and in a better frame of mind – and totally amazed at the calibre and ability of a company of artists that are on the top of their game.

The show is farce taken to a new level of comedic timing and there are genuinely jaw-dropping moments as you wonder whether what's going wrong is planned to go wrong, or whether calamity will prevail. There is wonderful dexterity, athleticism and ingenuity throughout the show – whose premise is an amateur company staging an old-fashioned murder mystery.

It is rib-tricklingly funny in places and simply masterful in conception and execution.

With a nod to two classics of their genre, The Play That Goes Wrong has been described by one reviewer as 'though The Mousetrap has been taken over by Monty Python'. That sort of sums it up, but you have to enjoy it for yourself.

Having started with a little sideswipe at the internet, it is with a degree of chagrin that I point you in the direction of the production company's website, but I hope it whets your appetite.

If it does, make the effort to go see this show in person. I guarantee you will come away all the better for the experience. This is entertainment right out of the top drawer and an imaginative reinvention of all the comedy slapstick greats from Laurel and Hardy to a Brian Rix Farce.

You won't go wrong if you seek out this show.

The play That Goes Wrong runs at the Southend Cliffs Pavilion until Saturday, 7 May. You can find out more and book via this link