YOU know you’ve seen a great show when you walk out of the theatre and your face hurts from laughing so much.

And after watching Three Men in a Boat at the Playhouse, that was exactly how I felt.

The story follows three workshy, well-to-do young men as they escape London for a jaunt up the Thames to Oxford.

Their unpredictable and utterly hilarious journey makes for excellent entertainment at every turn.

I honestly think it was the funniest thing I have ever seen on stage, an absolute triumph from start to finish.

Cracking on-stage chemistry, great gags, superb songs, it was all there.

The slapstick antics of Tom Hackney, David Partridge and Michael Rouse had the main house in stitches as they cavorted around the stage.

The performance raced along at a frenetic pace, the audience never knowing what was around the bend.

Surreal, quirky, completely out of the ordinary, it was just brilliantly funny.

It must have been great fun to act.

Then all of a sudden, in the midst of some well-timed one-liners and textbook tumbles, there was a moment of real emotion as the magnificent Michael Rouse beautifully sang Sussex folk song My Love Has Gone.

Rouse delivered my favourite line of the whole performance, at which I apparently laughed louder than anyone else in the theatre, so my other half reliably informs me.

Partridge was particularly funny as J, the shirking, self-appointed supervisor of the expedition, blustering, bellowing and bossing the others around.

And Hackney was hilarious as the perpetually hungry Harris. His accents, especially as a crazed Scottish innkeeper, had me almost in tears.

Special mention must go to the beautiful and charming Anna Westlake, who tied the whole performance together perfectly with music and sound effects. She played the piano and the accordion wonderfully and was a joy to behold.

This original take on a classic comedy gets five stars from me.

Highly recommended.

At the Playhouse, Salisbury, until Saturday.