A sell-out staple of the Edinburgh Fringe, with an Olivier under its belt for a successful West-End run, Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is touring the country once again and has come to Cheltenham.

The premise is simple. The troupe of all-singing all-dancing actors take suggestions from the audience for the setting of show, and a selection of musicals from them to ape as they go. At various points, the compère will interrupt the action to let the audience further complicate scenes. It would be churlish to map out the full course of selections that led to our bespoke performance on the evening, but it was really very impressive how well they assembled a science-fiction gold-rush love story with overtones of The Book of Mormon and The Sound of Music and a Spandau Ballet-ballet as a big closer.

It was of course enthusiastically funny to see the troupe adhere to the ridiculous demands of the audience and the entertainment value comes as much from the adept skill with which this is done as much as it does the risk of catching them out. Reducing the actors to corpsing or getting them to bat around a scene concept between each other until one of them has to define how the scene proceeds is a real treat.

There are so many levels on which this is enjoyable. If you want engaging and funny audience interaction, it works. If you want farcical comedy and drama on stage with some piping musical numbers (all assembled on the spot), it works. For those that like the technical aspects of theatre and improvisation, there’s even a particular pleasure in seeing how the actors cue each other in on their next actions and lines, trying to signal and construct the elements of the show as a collective.

I can’t recommend Showstopper enough for a hilarious and energetic night out.   ★★★★☆   Fenton Coulthurst    26^th May 2017