It’ll be all Wrong on the Night
I appreciate that theatre companies have had a long break from live shows, but last night’s performance was a disaster. Props broke, the set was a deathtrap, actors couldn’t remember their lines…everything that could go wrong, went wrong. But that is of course entirely the point!
The blurb reads, “The accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences!” but what did we think? Find out below!
Wrong on so Many Levels
Themed around a 1920s murder mystery by The Cornley Drama Society, the play takes place in a grand house over several levels. The clever set design hides a myriad of traps and special effects, but to go into specifics would spoil the surprise. Let’s just say that if the fictional theatre company was real, they wouldn’t pass even a basic risk assessment.
Using the set over multiple floors, the actors are adept at feigning injury, prat falls, slips and trips, and there were many gasps and ‘oohs’ throughout.
Wrongdoers
The cast are full of energy and enthusiasm, and their comic timing is impeccable. For a play full of mistakes, there are moments that show just how in-tune with each other they really are – even seemingly simple things like catching a prop thrown from a long distance. Comparisons to the original team are perhaps inevitable, and yes there are similarities – particularly in Leonard Cook’s husky-voiced Robert (playing Thomas Colleymoore) – but each actor also makes the role their own.
Like a well-oiled theatrical machine, the performers bounce off each other and clearly relish being back on stage. On a minor technical note, we were only in the third row of the Dress Circle but we strained to hear at points. This may be that the performers couldn’t have individual microphones due to the physical nature of the show, water being thrown and so on, but the floor mics didn’t seem to pick everything up.
I can only imagine how busy the unseen crew must’ve been behind-the-scenes triggering all the effects. To overthink how a lot of it was done would be like spoiling a great magic trick! Speaking of spoilers, again there are many specific moments I would love to talk about here, but I don’t want to give the game away. I will say though that even the simple act of taking a phone call is a tall order.
Some sequences are absurd, and reminded me of classic clowning and even Laurel and Hardy or Chaplin, and the farce often echoes vaudevillian theatre.
Righting the Wrongs
Our experience of the show was slightly jaded, simply by the fact that we’ve seen a lot ‘go wrong’. We’re big fans and have watched all the television specials, the series and the Royal Variety performances. And just last week we saw another theatre company adopt a similar premise in which, you guessed it, things went wrong. Whilst it was great to see the Goes Wrong team live on stage, many of the gags rely on the element of surprise and we had seen them before so often saw them coming.
This is no fault of the fantastic the cast and crew though, but it was a show I wish I could have seen through fresh eyes! If it’s your first time, I can appreciate that it would be a groundbreaking one-of-a-kind experience. What I would suggest is that, if you haven’t seen the TV series yet, try and catch the stage show first – because of course it is so much better live! Put simply, The Play That Goes Wrong get things wrong, and does it so very right.
It is easy to see why the company have had television work, extensive tours, West End and Broadway runs and won many awards. The Play that Goes Wrong is a riot of farcical fun, packed with slapstick, wordplay and inventive ideas! My hat goes off to The Mischief Theatre Company for making ‘wrong’ look so effortless and slick, when in reality it is easy to do wrong…well, wrong!
MAGIC RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL
To find out where The Play that Goes Wrong is touring, and check out other shows from the team visit www.mischiefcomedy.com
Disclaimer: Tickets were kindly provided for this performance, however all opinions are honest and are our own.
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