Chicago Company / Jeremy Daniel
The hilarious comedy The Play That Goes Wrong makes its triumphant return to Washington DC’s Kennedy Center (in the Eisenhower Theatre) after a sold out engagement in December 2018, including cast members from the Broadway, National Tour and Chicago productions, as well as alumni from the current Off-Broadway production. The show made its debut in London in 2012 and moved to the West End in 2013, winning the Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. The show transferred to Broadway in 2017 — with J.J. Abrams making his theatrical debut as a producer — and ran for 745 regular performances (winning a Tony Award for Best Scenic Production of a Play), with the Off-Broadway production launching in 2019. A new show titled Peter Pan Goes Wrong is just ending a Broadway run before flying out to Los Angeles.
The hilarity of The Play That Goes Wrong begins the second you walk into the theatre with a simple glance at the program which shows the title and cast for ‘The Murder at Haversham Manor’ at Cornley University, with a note from the president of the Dramatic Society and Director of the play, Chris Bean, followed by the cast photos (real) and bios (fake) and an ad for an acting school presented by one of the actors in the play. You’ll then notice a crew wandering about the theatre and fiddling around on stage in full view of the audience, at one point even choosing a member of the audience to come on stage and hold a piece of the set in place … and then leaving them there right up until showtime. It all cleverly sets the mood for what’s to come. As the lights dim, Chris Bean introduces the show, a murder mystery, and points out this is the first show at the university that had enough actors to fill out the cast, unlike previous productions of ‘Cat’ and ‘The Lion … and the Wardrobe’.
After the intro, things go awry immediately when the actor playing the victim (Jonathan Harris) trips coming onto the stage in the dark, and as the lights come up he’s not yet in place. The lights quickly go back down, he takes his place on the sofa, and the lights come back up. The two other actors enter the scene — from the wings as the door to the set is jammed, and proceed to constantly step on the hand of the victim. And then it all goes quickly downhill from there as props are not in the right place, pieces of the set fall off, and slapstick violence renders one of the actors unconscious, forcing one of the crew to take her place. The plot of the murder mystery really doesn’t matter at this point as the show is about everything that goes wrong, and in quite spectacular fashion in the second act. It’s not something that’s easily described in a review, so I won’t even try … and I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises in store. Suffice it to say, you will find something to laugh at but is it too much of a good thing?
The show reminded me of those old The Carol Burnett Show sketches where things would, well, go wrong. This is a very extended version of that, and by the end of the first act I was almost worn out from the constant barrage of things going wrong. I was thankful for the intermission that gave me a chance to recharge my batteries because there is a lot going on. Some might say it was overkill, but they manage to hit you with something else that will draw more laughter out of you even when you think you can’t laugh any more. I quite enjoyed being in a large audience of people simply having a good time. And while you’re just splitting your sides laughing, you also have to marvel at the ingenious set (which reminded me of something we might have constructed for a high school production, which was intentional), wondering how so much of it could fall apart on cue. Nigel Hook certainly deserved that Tony Award. The lighting design by Jeremy Cunningham (based on Ric Mountjoy’s Broadway design), sound design by Beth Lake (based on Andrew Johnson’s Broadway design), and costumes by Roberto Surace all contribute to the production in ways that make it feel appropriately amateurish while still being completely professional. Matt DiCarlo’s direction keeps things running at a manic pace, choreographing the mayhem expertly while keeping the cast safe. The script by Brett Cassidy, Kullan S. Edberg, and Brendon Haangenson brilliantly skewers the Agatha Christie-like murder mystery with the slapstick comedy, but there are a few times where they could have pulled back just a little, like a bit where the actors are holding small parts of the set on the wall that went on for far too long and the actors could have just let them drop (also one bit of a scene that keeps going in a loop goes on for too long — comedy works best in threes, they say). The first act does feel a little over-stuffed at times, but the second act flows much better and has some truly eye-popping moments of disaster and even a bit of magic (I’m still trying to figure out how one character gets carried off stage and suddenly reappears on stage). I really did gasp a few times!
Chicago Company / Jeremy Daniel
The cast is brilliant, playing not only the actors in the play but the characters on stage as well. Matt Harrington plays director Chris Bean and Inspector Carter, and it was fun to watch him in character as the show was falling apart around him, this being Bean’s directorial debut. At one point in Act II, the inspector is supposed to find a ledger tucked behind the cushions of the sofa, but another actor moved it to under the sofa, so feel free to yell from the audience where it is and see what happens. Let’s just say that Harrington doesn’t just break the fourth wall, he completely demolishes it. Definitely one of the funniest moments of the show. Peyton Crim as Robert Grove/Thomas Colleymoore does his best to maintain his character as things fall apart around him, bringing just the right amount of arrogance to the character (who is a student of the Stanislavsky method of acting). Joseph Anthony Byrd, plays Jonathan Harris/Charles Haversham (the murder victim) and his reactions to being abused while supposedly dead are perfect (my one quibble with his character is that he does this little ‘I’m dead’ thing every time he ‘accidentally’ shows up on stage that got a bit overdone). Mara Davi plays Sandra Wilkinson/Florence Colleymoore, and as Sandra she does not seem to really grasp her character, completely overdoing the role, taking every chance she can to remind the audience of how sexy she is. It was quite funny, and in Act II she gets some of the most physical action of any character. She is fantastic.
Bartley Booz is very good as Dennis Tyde/Perkins the butler, a poor sap who has some key words written on his hand — that he hilariously mispronounces — and can’t remember how long Perkins has been employed with the Havershams (at one point he says 80 years). As Tyde the actor, he is doing all he can to hold things together, and Booz gives a wonderful performance that draws a huge cheer from the audience when he finally gets a pivotal line right. Alex Mandell tackles three roles — actor Max Bennett, and characters Cecil Haversham and the gardener. Mandell’s Bennett is someone who should never be on stage because he has no self control and will constantly mug at the audience to get more of a reaction. And the more you laugh, the more out of control he’ll get. And he does that with both characters. He has some great comic timing and the subtle (yes, subtle!) reaction to Florence asking Cecil to kiss her was perfection. Akron Watson plays tech guy Trevor Watson, and he takes his place in a small ‘booth’ area against the wall in the orchestra section of the theatre. There are times when you have to keep an eye on him because he’s occasionally more occupied watching videos on his phone than he is attending to the lighting and sound cue of the play. And then he very reluctantly ends up on stage after a mishap renders a particular cast member (or two) unconscious.
While everyone in the cast is truly brilliant, I have to really call out Kai Heath as stage manager Annie Twilloil. She and Watson are the crew members walking around the audience and on stage during the pre-show, but once the show starts she is hilarious forced into action when the mantle over the fireplace is missing, and then once again as ‘Sandra’ is unable to continue in the role of Florence. Donning the wig and costume of Florence — very haphazardly — and reading lines from the script, Kai’s Annie is completely out of her element as she robotically recites the dialogue, and is even more hilarious when she has to portray on of Florence’s ‘hysterical episodes’. And by Act II, Annie will do anything to keep ‘Sandra’ from returning to the stage, matching the very physical performance of Mari Davi. Heath really was a stand-out, particularly with some of her line readings. Simply a wonderful performance.
By the end of The Play That Goes Wrong I truly was exhausted from laughing. At times it was a bit overwhelming and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to endure much more after the first act, but luckily the second is much tighter and while things still flow fast and furious, there are bigger comedic set-pieces that help slow down the pace a bit. But with all of that being said, The Play That Goes Wrong is still a marvel of physical comedy of a magnitude that has to be difficult to do live on stage (and by the end you will be asking yourself how this is possible night after night). The cast is fantastic, the set is amazing, and it’s just a nice escape from the not-so-funny world we live in every day.
The Play That Goes Wrong runs about 2 hours and 20 minutes including one 20 minute intermission. Recommended for ages 8 and up.
The Play That Goes Wrong runs through August 13 at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center. Visit the official website for more information. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.
The Play That Goes Wrong | Jul. 20 – Aug. 13, 2023
The Kennedy Center
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
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