"The Play That Goes Wrong" at Lyceum Theatre

Production photo by Jeremy Daniel

We were looking for something new and fun on our recent trip to New York, and I saw references to The Play That Goes Wrong. Having recently seen Noises Off! at SF Playhouse, the notion of another play about a play going horribly off the tracks seemed amusing. It was.

The Play

Let's just get this out up front here: This is an extremely silly play. It has no great intellectual underpinning, hidden message, or anything like that. It is just a very, very silly play. The premise is that a college theater troupe ("The Cornley University Drama Society") is putting on a murder mystery called "The Murder at Haversham Manor." From the start of the curtain speech by the student director, it is clear that the society has ongoing issues with their play productions, but they have high hopes for this one.

But really, even before that, they've had some issues, as the stage crew keeps coming out on stage before the curtain, adjusting, fixing, etc. It's clear that there are issues and will continue to be.

So we have a "whodunit" staged by the inept, in a theater that seems to hate them. And we will send up every convention of the country house murder mystery, with lots of slapstick, malapropism, pratfalls, sight gags, and just general goofiness.

I should mention that the play won the Olivier Award a couple of years ago as Best New Play, so it has some credentials, and it's currently playing on Broadway, in London, and on at least one UK tour, with a US national tour coming next year. People like this play. And really, that's fine. It's not mean-spirited or anything. It's just very, very, very silly. And funny. And fun.

The Production

The Broadway production is quite slick. The set is elaborate (and needs to be, as it goes through a lot, with things falling all the time, entrances and exits happening in odd places, and so on. Also, the booth for the lighting and sound operator ("Trevor," played by Akron Watson) is located in one of the boxes on the mezzanine, so we can see what he's up to (because he's part of the play). He is also a huge fan of Duran Duran, and yes, that is a plot point.

Aside from the clever staging, I was most impressed with the physical comedy and timing of the cast. Despite having an understudy (Preston Boyd as "Dennis") in one of the important roles, things went brilliantly. I have not laughed this hard at a play in a long time. I thought they went a bit overboard on a few things, such as having Trevor climbing through the mezzanine before the show in search of a missing dog. On the other hand, I quite enjoyed several of the actors coming out to the lobby bar at intermission until the "student director" shooed them away, shouting that they would "spoil the illusion."

So all very over-the-top, melodramatic, and overdone. It was fun.

The Bottom Line

This is not great literature or brilliant drama, but it does not aspire to be. What it is, though, is clever and tightly designed and executed. I can't say that I'm a better person for having seen it, but I did have a rollicking good time, and I look forward to seeing it again when it comes through town on its national tour.

Check it out. You'll laugh.