From the moment Bri (Ralf Little) bounds onto the stage, dressed as a slightly pathetic 1960s school teacher, firing out detentions to the delighted audience, this play sets its tension between comedy and pain.

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg acts out the tale of a couple's attempts to joke, on the one hand, and have faith and devotion on the other, through the brain damage of their daughter, who is described anachronistically as a spastic.

In the first half we learn how Joe became so, with Bri and Sheila (Rebecca Johnson), in their Monty Python themed living room, complete with a giant hand of god pointing down on the couple, acting out their woes.

As they recreate the story of her birth and disability for us, creating characters as they go, the play sparks to life.

Bri's portrayal of a pompous vicar and a buck-passing family GP have the audience in stitches and one of Sheila’s improvisations breaks the invisible wall with the audience as both actors break character and giggle away.

Little does not deliver the kind of stand up comedy that you imagine Eddie Izzard (one of the previous Bris) might.

But he is utterly convincing as a worry-laden father trying to joke his way out of a personal and marital crisis.

The sheer brilliance of able-bodied actor Jessica Bastick-Vines’ performance as Joe, is confirmed in a short moment at the end of the first act.

As the second act arrives and a cast of hypocritical characters, including Bri's doting mother (Marjorie Yates), and John Cleese and Joanna Lumley alike neighbours (Owen Oakeshott and Sally Tatum) come to try and ‘rescue’ the couple from Joe.

But is Joe Egg still as edgy as it was when first performed? And does setting it in the 60s with rug covered sofas and 60s references, take away some of the power of immediacy?

Has society moved on since it was written, especially post-Paralympics, that the targets of ire and subjects of mirth need updating?

In a world where disabled ‘stand-up’ comedians like Liz Carr can mock themselves as crips, does the play still pack a punch? The biggest shocked gasp I heard was when Bri describes an Italian as a dago.

Most moving was the torn relationship between Bri and Sheila who have made a pact to look after their daughter and the effect it has on their faltering marriage.

You may be shocked by the irreverent attitude to disability but you will definitely be shocked at the way matters conclude as loyalties and love are tested.