POSH, the political comedy based on the famous Bullingdon Club of Oxford University, opens tonight at Salisbury Playhouse.

The new co-production by Salisbury and Nottingham Playhouse is the regional premiere of the play which opened at the Royal Court in London in 2010 before transferring to the West End two years later.

The play centres on an evening in which the ten privileged young members of The Riot Club gather in order to get totally “chateaued”. But as the evening progresses, things get disastrously out of hand with the dark side of decadence and wealth being brutally exposed.

The production has just finished a two-week run in Nottingham, where it provoked strong reactions among audiences. Now Robbie Jarvis, who plays one of the nastier members of the club Harry Villiers, is looking forward to seeing the reaction from Salisbury audiences.

He said: “It’s a tremendously clever play which is both very political and funny, and in the run up to the General Election, it’s very brave for Salisbury to be putting it on here. We had, in many cases, a hostile crowd in Nottingham.

“The play looks at whether upper class is better than working class and on one night we were heckled by a lady who shouted out ‘we hate you’ as the curtains came down and the lights came on.

“With Salisbury being a Tory heartland, I think it will be really fun.”

Some of the most famous members of the elitist Bullingdon Club are David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson and Jarvis believes Posh is emblematic of the type of theatre that should be staged.

“The fact that at the top of our two main political parties, you have men and women who are all drawn from a very narrow pool is something that everybody should be aware of and talking about, and that perhaps the reason why there’s a homogeneity in the parties is that everybody comes from the same place.

“Elitism in politics has had an enormous impact on our society and it’s something that people connect with. But the great thing about Posh is it doesn’t tell you what you should think - it brings you in using humour and wit and some really clever ideas.”

The 28-year-old, who recently starred in the Jimi Hendrix film, All is by My Side, and the London stage play Shivered, has also guest starred in the BBC’s Waking the Dead and ITV’s Trial & Retribution.

And he will be recognisable to any Harry Potter fans, having played the young James Potter, Harry’s father, in the 2007 film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

While playwright Laura Wade adapted Posh for the 2014 film The Riot Club, Jarvis says it is a very different entity.

“For me, the play is more light-hearted because it’s right in front of the audience. On film it’s suspension of belief whereas on stage we need to win the audience over by being friendly, charming chaps.

“Although in parts we are being quite obnoxious, the characters are charming and it is easy to get swept away so that you kind of end up on their side.

“The scary thing is that these guys make a lot of sense and then you say no, no, no – this is the dark side, the evil side, remember that!”

Posh runs at Salisbury Playhouse from now until April 4. For tickets call 01722 320333 or visit salisburyplayhouse.com. The play contains very strong language and has an age guidance of 16 plus.