THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at the Duchess Theatre

★★★★★

“May it enjoy 10 more years of destroyed sets and injured cast members!”

The Play That Goes Wrong celebrates its 10th anniversary this year making it the 28th longest-running show on the West End. Conceived by the Mischief Theatre Company, which has gone on to have numerous ‘Goes Wrong’ successes with their winning formula, The Play That Goes Wrong has been seen by just shy of 1,660,000 people since it first premiered on the West End stage in 2014. Though, it is perhaps more aptly to measure in disaster statistics – its 106 actors have been hit 125,000 times and the audience subjected to over 11,000 minutes of looped dialogue.

For those unaware of the smash hit, the play follows the plucky young members of The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society as they try to put on a performance of an Agatha Christie style murder mystery called The Murder at Haversham Manor. Whilst the group’s performance is introduced by the already exasperated Chris Bean (Daniel Fraser), the in-show Director-cum-Stage Designer-cum-Prop Maker-cum-Any other role that you can think of, we see the state management team frantically trying to repair the stage and find a dog that has run off. A clear sign of what mayhem is to come!

And the play’s name couldn’t be more apt – everything really does go wrong. From the set falling apart, actors being knocked out, injuries to all manner of body parts, looped dialogue, misused props, breaking the fourth wall, cast squabbles, and even drinking white spirit – the cast cannot catch a break! Much hilarity ensues however from the cast pressing on no matter what – never deterred, even when they may be gripping on for dear life to a slipping desk on a falling ledge.

The performance’s cast cannot be faulted – they all bring a great vibrancy and humour to their roles, both as the student actors and their Haversham Manor counterparts. Most notable are Daniel Anthony as the adorably stumbling butler Perkins and Jay Olpin as the over-enthusiastic Cecil Haversham who has the perfect cheeky grin and comic movements for the role.

As this was the 10th anniversary performance, the audience was also treated to cameos from some of the original cast members as well as writer Jonathan Sayer. There are also the characteristic fourth wall breaks such as Robert Grove as Thomas Colleymore (Owen Jenkins) questioning why anyone would have a Duran Duran CD in 2024.

The set is brilliantly constructed. Its fluidity is highly impressive – the audience is continually surprised by what can and cannot be moved. Pyrotechnics are also used for some added flare. There is a working lift (until it goes up in smoke) and two floors whose failings lead to some of the play’s funniest scenes.

There is some reliance on recurring bits that in a few instances get old. The various characters drafted in to play Lady of the Manor Florence Colleymore are all knocked out at least once and fight incessantly amongst each other. Characters never leave the stage quickly – always doing a slow turn to the audience before exiting. Some more variety here would be particularly welcome – it is hilarious when the deceased Charles Haversham (Alex Bird) attempts to drag himself offstage without the audience noticing. More audience participation would also be welcome – Fraser responds excellently to an audience member who shouts out a minor spoiler during the famous ledger scene: “Do you have any idea how important this night is!?” he cries.

There is no doubt as to why this play has had such longevity. The setting and its hammed-up characters are instantly recognisable – the conventions to be broken and exaggerated immediately apparent. The slapstick is Fawlty Towers-esque – the frustration of the cast’s keener thespians growing and growing as the play’s chaos continues to mount. The show is also a lot of fun – humour is derived from wit as much as a sudden violent clash – and the set and in-show stage management team add a further playfulness. This is a show unafraid to show the ridiculous and the absurd behind the scenes of putting on a performance, and the audience could not be more appreciative.

Whether you are a fan of slapstick or not, you cannot help but have fun at The Play That Goes Wrong. May it enjoy 10 more years of destroyed sets and injured cast members!

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at the Duchess Theatre

Reviewed on 10th September 2024

by Flora Doble

Photography by Danny Kaan

More reviews from this month:

REBUS: A GAME CALLED MALICE | ★★★ | CAMBRIDGE ARTS THEATRE | September 2024

THE GATES OF KYIV | ★★★★ | THEATRE ROYAL WINDSOR | September 2024

BALLET NIGHTS 006: THE CADOGAN HALL CONCERT | ★★★★ | CADOGAN HALL | September 2024

AN INSPECTOR CALLS | ★★★★ | ALEXANDRA PALACE | September 2024

VITAMIN D | ★★★★ | SOHO THEATRE | September 2024

THE BAND BACK TOGETHER | ★★★★ | ARCOLA THEATRE | September 2024

THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE | ★★★ | UPSTAIRS AT THE GATEHOUSE | September 2024

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING | ★★★★ | THE RED LION | September 2024

GUYS & DOLLS | ★★★★★ | BRIDGE THEATRE | September 2024

23.5 HOURS | ★★★ | PARK THEATRE | September 2024

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

★★★

“If at times the show feels like it might sink beneath the waves, the performers are on hand to rescue it”

It’s hard to believe that we are barely three weeks away from the longest day of the year. The first day of summer. The clouds over London are grey, and a chill wind cuts through concrete avenues peopled by grim figures hiding under umbrellas. Not a Hawaiian shirt in sight, and thoughts of romping on a beach are… well – just thoughts. Vague dreams or distant memories.

Until, that is, you pass through the doors of Southwark Playhouse into the surreal world that is “Fun at the Beach Romp-Bomp-A-Lomp!!”. A world where the sun shines, albeit still only metaphorically, and where you’d have to be a real grouch to stop your mouth twitching into the shape of a smile. You have to admire the show’s creators, and their candid confession about the inspiration behind this romp through musical theatre. Having witnessed a jukebox musical that was (in their words) ‘staggeringly painful’ to watch, Martin Landry (book) and Brandon Lambert (music and lyrics) set themselves the task of writing a musical that was even worse.

And there you have it. Every step of the way Landry and Lambert expected the axe to fall, the plug to be pulled and test audiences to walk away. However, judging by the gathering at Southwark, they can happily bathe in, and surf on, the waves of laughter that come crashing down on their gag-riddled shores. It is not quite a jukebox musical. The musical numbers are all parodies and pastiches of well-known originals. The show is itself a parody. You begin by thinking it is making fun of the genre, but all it is really doing is making fun of itself. The butt of its own joke.

A simple premise. Each song title is a synonym. ‘It’s In His Kiss’ becomes ‘It’s In His Peck’ and makes great fun of the banal question and answer lyrical format. ‘Locomotion’ is now ‘The Ocean Motion’, The Beach Boys ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.’ morphs into ‘Surf America’ (genius, eh?), ‘Big Boys Don’t Cry’ is repackaged as ‘Mature Women Don’t Whine’… you get the drift. ‘Such fun’ – as Patricia Hodge would say in joyful desperation in a certain television sitcom. Which is the point. Don’t even try to make sense of the book onto which the songs are dolloped like an over-generous scoop of ice-cream onto a soggy, wafer-thin cone.

A motley crew of drifters skim onto the sun-drenched seaside to enter a bizarre ‘King – or Queen – of the beach’ competition. The challenges start out innocently enough before descending into a bit of a bloodbath. Meanwhile, virginal love matches swiftly nosedive into scandalous sagas of submarine adultery, and the supernatural is occasionally thrown onto the sand like twisted pieces of flotsam. A lot of the humour relies on repetition and stretching the gag to breaking point, but there are gems to be picked up if you’re in the right mood to detect them.

If at times the show feels like it might sink beneath the waves, the performers are on hand to rescue it, like breezy, Westcoast lifeguards relishing the fact they have the best job in the world. Their tongue-in-cheek sense of fun is infectious as they splash on the factor fifty cliché’s. Yet there is little protection to be had from the relentless cheesiness and silliness, so all that’s left is to just let go, ignore your bewilderment, and join in the fun. We are powerless. Even the privilege of making fun of it is taken away from us – they are doing such a good job of it themselves. Therein lies its genius, exemplified by some artfully and brilliantly timed lines of dialogue. “Even the stupidest musical can survive if it has one decent song”. Quad erat demonstradum. What more can I say!

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at the Duchess Theatre

★★★★★

“May it enjoy 10 more years of destroyed sets and injured cast members!”

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at the Duchess Theatre

Reviewed on 10th September 2024

by Flora Doble

Photography by Danny Kaan

More reviews from this month:

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

FUN AT THE BEACH ROMP-BOMP-A-LOMP!! at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★

“If at times the show feels like it might sink beneath the waves, the performers are on hand to rescue it”

FUN AT THE BEACH ROMP-BOMP-A-LOMP!! at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 30th May 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Danny Kaan

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

FUN AT THE BEACH

FUN AT THE BEACH