The Play That Goes Wrong

When everything seems to be going wrong with the world and constant stories of racism plague your newsfeed, it feels good to unplug and just laugh.

The Play That Goes Wrong, currently running at the Lyceum Theatre, is a British farce. It opened in London before transferring to Broadway last year.

The set is gorgeous, but oddly cheap looking. Done by Nigel Hook the set fits the aesthetic of the show perfectly.

The Play That Goes Wrong is similar to Noises Off. If you've seen Noises Off and you enjoy it, then you'll enjoy this play. If you've never heard of or seen Noises Off then everything you need to know is in the title of this one.

The Play That Goes Wrong actually follows the Cornley University Drama Society (from England) as they present their production of "The Murder at Haversham Manor".

Upon entering the theatre, we got a glimpse of the crew of the play putting the final touches on the set and being helped by a member of the audience.

Before the start of the play, director Chris Bean (Mark Evans) introduces us to the Drama Society as well as the show. Evans delivers his lines with great comedic timing as we learn more about the problems that have plagued the Drama Society in the past.

Mr. Bean is of course the director of "The Murder of Haversham Manor" (as well as the designer) and not of The Play That Goes Wrong which is directed by Mark Bell. The Play That Goes Wrong is written by Henry Shields, Henry Lewis, and Jonathan Sayer. "The Murder at Faversham Manor" is written by Susie H.K. Brideswell. The playbill has the fun detail of including the information of the actual play and the fictional one we are watching unfold.

If this is all confusing, I promise it is not once you are watching it. You are watching a play within a play and the play within the play is getting shown from beginning to end. This is different from the aforementioned Noises Off which focuses more on the backstage antics of the performers.

As the title states everything goes wrong. Doors stick and the set falls apart. 

The play within a play begins with a corpse of Charles Haversham (Jonathan Fielding) who cannot stay still. Of course you can't have a dead body without suspects so we are then introduced to Charles's fiancee (Amelia McClain), the butler (Harrison Unger), Charles's brother (Alex Mandell) and Charles's best friend (Preston Boyd).

We also get glimpses of Trevor (Akron Watson), the light board and sound board operator, and the stage manager (Ashley Bryant). Everyone from the cast and the crew must act "bad" and they do it well.

The show goes horribly wrong from the beginning and only gets worse and worse as the show progresses. It looks like a lot of fun, but as an actor I can't even begin to imagine how exhausted the actors are at the end of each performance. 

It is a lot to take in. Several gags happen at once multiple times throughout the show. It is tons of fun though.

The audience I was with absolutely loved it. They laughed from beginning to end. 

The woman behind me commented throughout the whole show as she noticed the different gags happening. I had fun and as evidenced by those around me, you probably will, too.

The Gentleman Caller

We are first introduced to Tennessee Williams.

He tells the audience who he is and his whereabouts as William Inge prepares drinks in the background. Inge is an unknown journalist preparing to interview Williams in his home in St. Louis.

The opening monologue has some good lines. Juan Francisco Villa delivers them with comedic timing. The Gentleman Caller by Philip Dawkins and produced by the Abingdon Theatre Company is currently running at the Cherry Lane Theatre.  The play takes place as Williams's new play "The Gentleman Caller" (now known as "The Glass Menagerie") is set to open in Chicago.

Williams breaks the fourth wall as he narrates the events of the evening, the evening the play opens and the events that occur after William Inge is discovered. Inge and Williams were both gay men and they did know each other, but as far as I know the events involving the two of them are a work of fiction.

There is not much action in this play, but there is a lot of talk. Inge (Daniel K. Isaac) spends most of the play refusing Williams's advances while also struggling with his wanting to proceed. There many innuendos to keep the audience entertained.

The play is off balanced in terms of the characters. Williams definitely dominates the play with Inge interjecting some lines of dialogue every now and then. Inge does have a final monologue, but it seemed written more for shock value than anything else.

Directed by Tony Speciale, the play was dominated by a strong performance that overpowered the weaker one. The set designed by Sara C. Walsh was gorgeous. Lamps were stacked upon manuscripts towering over the actors. It was beautiful to look at.

Good overpowers the not so good, and in the end deserves an audience.