A star-studded cast put on a splendidly silly show, recreating the true story of a royal heist in the Tower of London.

The Crown Jewels is a historical comedy running at Canterbury’s Marlowe theatre until September 30.

I was lucky enough to see the show for myself on Tuesday night and can honestly say I’ve never before had so much fun at the theatre.

Set in 1671, the play tells the tale of desperado Colonel Thomas Blood’s daring attempt to steal the crown jewels.

Along with his son, Tom Blood Jnr (Joe Thomas of The Inbetweeners) and Captain Perrot (Neil Morrissey best known for Men Behaving Badly), Blood seeks to sweet talk and swindle the Edwards family in order to make off with the treasure.

Talbot Edwards ( Al Murray) guards the Imperial State Crown and items of Coronation regalia while his wife Mrs Edwards (Mel Giedroyc) and Elizabeth Edwards (Carrie Hope Fletchers) run the Tower of London gift shop – “the shop first of its kind”, they brag.

But the criminals’ brazen burglary does not go as planned, leaving Blood the perilous task of assuaging King Charles II to keep from being executed.

With whimsy galore, characters royal and rouge kept me giggling throughout the speedy two-hour production.

A handful of brief musical numbers, courtesy of Fletchers’ soaring vocals, interspersed scenes of over-the-top-funny dialogue with a dash of slapstick.

On several occasions I think I caught the actors themselves on the verge of busting up, momentarily cracking their expressions, I can’t blame them.

Far from his famous Pub Landlord alter-ego, Al Murray delivers a charmingly ridiculous portrayal of the ‘Merry Monarch’ Charles II, as well doubling as Talbot Edwards.

The gurgling contortions of Murray’s vocal chords along with his great timing and improv skills, meant he deservingly got the biggest laughs of the evening.

But there were plenty to go around.

Mel Giedroyc, known for presenting The Great British Bake Off, also titillated the Marlowe crowd with a hilarious performance as a French Noblewoman (as well as playing Mrs Edwards).

What I enjoyed most about the play was that no chance for a chuckle went to waste.

Even in transitioning between the elegant set backgrounds and furniture, stage hands stared out at the audience with zany expressions.

Any opportunities within the script to poke fun at local Canterbury phenomena, or, with a touch of improvisation, individual audience members, was similarly seized upon.

The fourth wall for The Crown Jewels is incredibly porous, from characters speaking directly to show-goers to outright taking a seat on one of their laps, observers were very much part of the fun.

An IT professional was ridiculed by King Charles II for “making tea for a living” while a teenager who was wearing clothes which His Majesty disliked was picked on for being “dressed like a swine herd”.

Anyone looking for a light-hearted laugh of ye olde variety should do their best to get tickets while they still can.