From Place, the harbour stretches below in layers of water, boats and slate roofs, the kind of setting that could easily upstage almost anything placed before it. Yet when The Scarlet Pimpernel began at 7.30pm, Ha Hum Ah Productions made it clear that this was not to be a polite background entertainment. It had speed, mischief and enough theatrical nerve to hold its own against the view.

The Bodmin-based company’s three-actor retelling of Baroness Orczy’s classic adventure was brisk, playful and knowingly absurd. Revolution, danger and disguise came at a gallop. Wigs appeared and vanished. Accents shifted. Characters transformed mid-sentence. The actors leaned into the mechanics of the piece with a wink to the audience, never pretending the chaos was anything other than part of the pleasure.

At the centre was Marguerite Blakeney, caught between a distracted husband, a dangerous political world and the threat made against her brother by the revolutionary Chauvelin. The stakes may have been dramatic, but the production wisely refused to smother them in solemnity. Instead, it found its pace in quick-fire timing, gleeful invention and the delicious ridiculousness of people taking themselves far too seriously.

What came through clearly was the precision beneath the apparent disorder. The performances were sharp, the pacing tight, and the shifts between character, comedy and adventure were handled with confidence. It felt theatrical in the best sense: nimble, exposed, inventive and alive to the audience in front of it.