I have reviewed many shows at the Sydney Opera House, and never – never – before have I been so utterly flabbergasted at the lack of scrutiny and professionalism upheld by a creative team in the running of a production.
For starters, the immense buzz in the the Drama Theatre’s foyer was squashed before the audience had even entered the stalls, as a sign informed us that Hollywood star Tom Cruise would in fact not be appearing at this performance of The Murder at Haversham Manor. This was swiftly followed by the show’s operator, Trevor (Edmund (Eds) Eramiha), wandering up and down the aisles, followed in tow by the stage manager Annie (Olivia Charalambous) as they asked us, the audience, if we had seen a lost dog, Winston, who it appeared was to be a character in the show. Completely unprofessional!
After this was resolved, the director of the The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society greeted us all, ensuring that this production would not follow the mishaps in their previous works, and that they finally have funding and a script that suits their society. It would not be another low budget production (such as their summer season of James, where is your Peach?) and that they do have a full cast, as to avoid a repeat of the debacle of their most recent musical, Cat.
The cracks that began to appear even before the curtain lifted on The Murder at Haversham Manor only continued to widen as the show played on, the whole evening building up into a fiasco of disastrous heights – and, it was a roaring success!
The Play That Goes Wrong is so layered, it practically begs for an encore viewing.
That ancient saying “the show must go on” is the driving force behind the comedic success embedded in Mischief Theatre’s ridiculously successful West End hit, The Play That Goes Wrong. Where all manner of mishaps, pratfalls, falling sets, forgotten lines and character switches befall an ill-fated cast and crew as they desperately press on in a race to the final curtain call.
This is not the first time this smash-hit Olivier and Tony-Award-winning show has wreaked havoc on an Aussie stage, but the brand new tour kicking off at the Sydney Opera House is in honour of a special occasion, celebrating The Play That Goes Wrong’s milestone 10th anniversary – officially making this staple in slapstick the longest-running comedy in London.
A decade on, The Play That Goes Wrong is as funny as ever. Its feats of comedic ingenuity will have your face aching from smiling, and be warned – your cheeks will be rubbed raw from laughter by the end of the performance.
Doing what it says on the tin, this is a play that is going to go wrong – and you’ll be thankful that it does. There are, of course, other plays that have successfully done this in the past (Noises Off! being the most well-known) but the lengths to which co-writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields go to are the magic ingredient to the show’s longevity and success.
Following the play-within-a-play structure, the fictional Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are staging a very Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery. The director, Chris’s (Jonathan Martin) attempt at staging a serious play is brought to shambles – the butler played by Dennis (Tom Hayward) cannot remember his lines or correctly pronounce the large words that are written in ink on his hands, and Max (Sebastiano Pitruzzello) continuously breaks character, vying for audience applause.
Meanwhile, Robert’s (Joe Kosky) financier is repeatedly put in incredibly awkward positions to hold up the set, Sandra’s (Stephanie Astrid John) over-acting as the fiancé of the deceased leads to physical mishaps, and the dead body on stage (Brodie Masini) cannot play dead!
The Play That Goes Wrong is so layered, it practically begs for an encore viewing. It’s a credit to Lewis, Sayer and Shields that they do not play the audience for fools, creating a playful bouts of tension as they toy with us. Out of nowhere, the set itself eventually turns performer – collapsing, flipping, and rebelling at all the right (and wrong) moments.
Nigel Hook’s original set design is, arguably, the star of the show. Under Mark Bell’s original direction (and Nick Purdie’s resident direction) there’s a level of theatrical engineering here that is extremely well oiled – the stage crew’s comedic timing draws as many laughs as that of the actors on stage. The result is a laugh-a-minute production that almost threatens hyperventilation.
If I had the time, I could write an essay on every theatrical nod imbued into the script, every well-timed joke, set-up or callback, and why The Play That Goes Wrong has run in the West End for over a decade with no end in sight. But for now, we have a spectacular touring cast to do the talking for me.
My top tip: explore Mischief Theatre’s catalogue of other productions, and view The Goes Wrong Show for more hilarious takes on genre and form from this UK darling.
The Play That Goes Wrong is playing at the Sydney Opera House until August 3, before continuing its Australian tour. Find tickets & info over here.
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