The Play That Goes Wrong
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields
Produced by GMG Productions & Stoddart Entertainment Group
Associate director – Anna Marshall
Resident director – Nick Purdie
Until 11 May
James Hay Theatre, Christchurch Town Hall
Reviewed by Kineta Knight
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It’s all in the title of the play. The irony is not lost on me how much more humorous it was that something indeed did go wrong on opening night of The Play That Goes Wrong at the James Hay Theatre.
It’s a show that relies heavily on its clever set and mechanisms, so when something went awry backstage, the curtain fell on one of the funniest moments of the show.
Most audience members wouldn’t have noticed, and just thought it was part of the play, happily getting up from their seats and heading to the foyer for a refreshment. However, my plus ones and I sat there a little confused, waiting for the curtain to go up again. So, yes, there were two intervals in a two-act play.
It was how the actors recovered from the fault that was the most glorious part, kind of like with a wink and a nudge which made us all that much more invested in what else could actually go wrong. Nothing else did, except for all the bits that were meant to. And we were there for it.
What a play. What a cast. What a production.
I would liken this play to a two-hour stand-up comedy routine where you literally don’t know what’s going to happen next, and the laughter that continually rang, roared – and in one gentleman behind me’s case – snorted out, throughout the entire play. It really was that good.
Although it’s the longest-running comedy in London, this is a play I’m not overly familiar with, other than all its very good publicity constantly popping up in my social feeds. But as I said to my seat buddy, that’s the way I like it when reviewing theatre. Going in green, not knowing anything about it, not listening to what others have to say about it, and certainly not researching the play or its cast and crew. Because it means you’re going to a show with no preconceived ideas, just like most others in the house. It’s that two-hour piece of theatre you just witnessed, experienced and have been presented with on the night. That’s what you want to reflect back on, not the research.
The play-within-a-play is utter nonsense. An unstoppable avalanche of comic disaster. It’s slap-stick, Faulty Towers-esque at its finest.
The premise is delightfully simple: the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempts to stage a 1920s murder mystery, The Murder at Haversham Manor. But from the outset, everything – everything – goes spectacularly wrong.
The brilliance lies in the execution. It takes immense skill to make disaster look this effortless. The timing razor-sharp, the physical comedy superbly choreographed, and the commitment from the cast unwavering.
Directors Nick Purdie and Anna Marshall certainly brought it with their incredibly excellent casting and stage direction.
It would be unfair to single out any of the performers in this review because this play needs each and every one of them to work in perfect cohesion – even the swings – for this train-wreck of a masterpiece to work. But I will.
Sebastiano Pitruzzello. Take a bow. In this, his professional theatre debut, Pitruzzello delights the audience with his perfectly-timed, cheeky performance art. One to watch in the future, that’s for sure.
And we can’t go past the comedy duo of Joe Kosky (Robert) and Jonathan Martin (Chris). Just brilliant.
Olivia Charalambous (Annie) shines as Florence Colleymoore’s “understudy”. And the scene where the original Florence (Sandra Wilkinson) gets dragged out of the window would have to be one of the funniest moments I’ve witnessed in live theatre.
If you’re looking for escapism at its wildest on these cool May evenings, The Play That Goes Wrong is a ticket you want to get your hands on.
You really have to see it to find out for yourself just how brilliant it is.
