The world premiere of Worst Wedding Ever, Chris Chibnall’s brilliant new play, directed by Gareth Machin, is a major triumph.

This perceptive production deftly diverts the audience from side-splitting hilarity to moments of sombre awareness, in which one could have heard a pin drop.

Rosie Wyatt and Rudi Dharmalingam are the happy couple, Rachel and Scott, whose plans for a fuss-free wedding are dictated by a tight budget. Their hopes for simplicity are diminished steadily by family pressure, from Rachel’s forceful, well-meaning mum Liz (Carolyn Pickles) and disconsolate elder sister Alison (Rebecca Oldfield) who is getting a divorce, but still has the glamorous wedding dress that she wore 11 years earlier and is consoling herself with booze and bitter recrimination.

Another problem is their selfish, idle brother Andy (Oliver Bennett), back from a two-year fruitless quest for enlightenment in Thailand, having squandered a misguided loan from Rachel. Even the siblings’ apparently dependable dad Mel, played by Martin Hyder, proves less than reliable. His two huge dogs, liable to lavish unwanted attention on the unwary, have a key role as wedding plans escalate – and disintegrate.

Catchy musical numbers, with apt lyrics, are staged imaginatively on the superb two-tier set designed by James Button. Lighting by Peter Hunter contributes to a stunning success. Crucial mini-scenes between Rachel and her mother, at a department store and, in flashback, in a waiting room, and between the young couple on the seashore, are among many gems. Mark Noble’s sound effects are wonderful.

Richard Hurst is the engaging, up-beat vicar and Lloyd Gorman, Glyn Kerslake and Christopher Talman complete the able cast.

The unpredictability of the many-faceted plot from the writer of acclaimed crime drama Broadchurch rivets attention. There are comical sequences involving such unlikely items as a Portaloo and a bag of flour, and plausible off-stage effects threaten more disruption.

Rachel’s fantasy of exotic nuptials on a distant shore, and Scott’s more down-to-earth wish list are banished by financial restraints, and in the final analysis, isn’t love all they need?