Review: The Play that Goes Wrong
The Play that Goes Wrong has been running since 2012. I’ve seen it previously on Broadway but now I’ve also seen it in its UK home, the Duchess Theatre. It still stands up over ten years later from its premiere. The production created by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields under their theatre company Mischief Theatre is the first creation in their Goes Wrong series. It also includes Peter Pan Goes Wrong and The Goes Wrong Show. As with the above, it features a group of amateur actors in the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society.
The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are a group of community actors who are performing a murder mystery production, The Murder At Haversham Manor. Chaos ensues with big egos, bad acting and many many things going wrong. This means that the actors are playing characters from the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society as well as characters from the murder mystery. The joy of this becoming a franchise is that the characters have become recognisable and therefore well loved.
It is nice to see the familiar actors returning to work together, time and time again. However, as their shows grow beyond them, new faces must be brought into the picture. The West End production I watched this evening does not feature any of the original cast we have grown to associate with their Cornley counterparts, however, every actor stood up on that stage and brought them to life. Some with even their own interpretations of the characters, in particular, Rolan Bell as Robert. I also enjoyed the performance of Annie by Iona Fraser, as well as, Gavin Dunn as the awful technician, Trevor. As usual, Max is the highlight for me and was played well by Ross Virgo.
There was a brilliant moment of improvisation in response to an audience callout from Daniel Cech-Lucas as Chris. This special moment really topped off the performance.
Another hilarious and enjoyable success. Mischief Theatre remains high up on my list of theatre companies and I will certainly be tuning into their next big idea.
- Show title: The Play that Goes Wrong
- Venue: Duchess Theatre
- Review date: 20th February 2024
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