The Play That Goes Wrong

On Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre 

 

Before you even get in to the theatre you are amused.  If you pay attention, the producers take the ‘wrong’ in this play right down to a sign on the door that says, ‘you are at the wrong play’, but trust me.  You are in the right place.

The actual play that is being performed by the fictitious Cornley University Drama Society is 'The Murder at Haversham Manor’.   All the presumably British actors are playing a character, who in turn are playing a character in The Play That Goes Wrong.  It’s wonderfully confusing and funny, and you’ll still be trying to figure this out long after it’s over so take your Playbill® home and study it afterwards.    The antics begin before the curtain, as would be stage hands are fixing a set that is literally falling apart.  Doors won’t close, things that hang on the walls won’t stay up and it’s a futile battle of the props until the real fun begins.

Rob Falconer, playing Trevor Watson, playing the guy in the Tech Box can’t seem to get the lighting or sound cues right.   The play that goes wrong starts, and centers on a dead Charles Haversham, played by Johnathan Harris, played by Jonathan Fielding.   It’s playing dead at your worst, as he is constantly having to move because of something like one of the other actor’s stepping on his hand that’s dangling on the floor.  The gurney to remove the body is also a complete failure, but no matter what happens, and probably the funniest thing about this production, is that they just keep continuing.  Lines are often yelled out of turn.  When Annie gets throttled by an opening door.  Her scene partner continues the dialogue telling her “stop yelling”, even though she is laying on the floor out cold.   If you can think about anything that can go wrong in a play, you will probably see it here and it’s bloopers at their best.   Actors laughing at themselves, reading lines from their hands, props breaking, words are mispronounced, line cues that should be fed silently are heard by the entire theatre.  The laughs are non-stop.

So many things were going wrong and I was laughing so hard that I was left wondering if the woman behind me with the hiccups was a patron or an actual plant.   That would have obviously annoyed me at any other production, but here it just added to the fun of the evening.

I also need to mention that post theatre, as I was in restaurant waiting in the rest room,  the door suddenly burst opened and slammed into the woman behind me.  I know she thought me rude when I burst out laughing, and luckily she was not hurt.  I explained about The Play That Goes Wrong, and we all had a good laugh.

In reality, making a play that goes wrong is harder than making a play that goes right.   This ensemble cast were all spot on wrong.   The roles they play are also physically grueling as they get tossed, dropped, clobbered and thrashed about.  It’s bloody brilliant comic theatre.   There is something very right about The Play That Goes Wrong.  For tickets and more information visit http://www.theplaythatgoeswrong.com and check for available discounts at my website here.   -ThisbroadSway 4/5/2017