Here we have a classic Fringe staple: a fast-paced parody of a familiar genre, whose seemingly-low production values are big part of the joke. Aided by a pair of theatre curtains and a lot of cardboard signs, the four-member cast take a breezily epic spin around the world of espionage, drawing more than a hint of inspiration from a certain James Bond. Two of the actors are graduates of The Play That Goes Wrong, and the shambling vibe of that show is emulated here – except that, on the whole, it goes right.

We’re cast, we soon discover, as Hollywood execs, here to see a pitch from a plucky young writer and a slightly desperate B-movie producer. What follows is essentially a procession of skits, parodying both specific scenes and the general conventions of the genre: the meetings with M and Q, the potential double agent, the inevitable showdown on a moving train. At the centre of it all, tasked with destroying a global network of evil, is secret agent Jane Blonde. (They don’t make a big deal of the gender inversion, and neither will I – except to say how nice it is that such things can now be unremarkable.)

The script is a knowing homage to a much-loved trope, and there’s a lot in it to love, as well. Grand scenes are enacted with tiny props; chase sequences are silly and exciting in equal measure. We get James Bond’s trademark terrible one-liners, characters with names like Dick Hardwood, and a smattering of truly appalling puns. There’s a very passable Mission Impossible laser-maze sequence and – perhaps the highlight – a technology-assisted “helicopter tour” which brings the whole audience into the action.

On the other hand, a few promising ideas aren’t followed through. We’re set up to expect a clash between the fussy writer and the populist producer, but in the end they basically just agree with each other. We’re also told the producer’s appearing on stage because an actor’s dropped out – yet he’s nowhere near as comically bad as you might expect from that. The “ramshackle parody” genre has its own well-worn devices, and it feels like a few have been deployed here without fully considering how to exploit them.

But that doesn’t detract from the laugh-a-minute humour, nor the low-budget inventiveness of the set-piece scenes. I’m not sure I’d green-light the movie we’re pitched… but the play’s a success, for sure.