Enigmatic, Sarcastic, Sardonic: The question of this play is not ‘who stole the Mona Lisa?’ but how to describe the Mona Lisa’s smile. This is the question that confounds two homoerotic artistes, prone to prolonged eye contact and unclipping their belts, a pair of bumbling police officers and a couple that met on the Sheffield-Liverpool Paris exchange. Self described as a “tragic-farce”, Picasso Stole the Mona Lisa is an amalgam of slapstick comedy, pamplemousses and a mockery of the poetry of Gertrude Stein, all drawn together by an absurdist plot and some decidedly post-modern humour.

This new piece of writing by Cambridge’s own, Jamie Fenton, shows thorough research discarded in favour of an ‘in-Seine’ and nonsensical reworking of the truth. Before entering I was well advised to take the art historical narrative with a pinch of salt. It is true that the Apollinaire and Picasso were implicated in the hunt for the Mona Lisa after its theft in 1911; but everything else in the plot came straight from the writer’s unpredictable imagination.

The real strength of the performance came from the chemistry between the two leads, Yaseen Kader and Hayden Jenkins. Their quick-fire witticisms contrasted with the faux-emotional intimacies to create a charming dynamic, also echoed in the two other couples. Another star aspect of the production was the use of mixed media. We entered to the soundtrack of Midnight in Paris and title cards disclosing the inaccuracy of the plot. Silent film and sound effects were used to great canned applause, as were the lighting and edited dialogue.

Picasso Stole the Mona Lisa was by no means a faultless production – seldom did ten minutes go by without a minor mishap occurring – but in almost every case the actors managed to rescue it, all the while conveying the impression that they too were genuinely enjoying the performance. It is a rare thing to see a production were the flaws enhance the overall effect but somehow this production came together to form something innovative, charming and highly entertaining.