"Peter Pan Goes Wrong" at Ethel Barrymore Theatre

 

Production photo by Jeremy Daniel

This is a very silly play. Of course we know that going in. Peter Pan Goes Wrong is put on by the UK's Mischief Theatre, who were responsible for The Play that Goes Wrong, which I saw back in 2017 and 2018.

The Play

Instead of spoofing a murder mystery as they had before, this time Mischief takes on the well-known and theatrically-overused story of Peter Pan. Things go wrong. Very, very wrong. Pratfalls, technical glitches, set failures, etc. All the sorts of stuff you would expect from this crew, along with making fun of Peter Pan. What could go wrong?

The Production

I guess I'd have to say that the set is much more elaborate than for the previous show (this one features a revolving turntable for scene changes), but leans more on the personal foibles of the cast members of the show-within-the-show than on the extremely-well-choreographed mishaps. Not that there is a shortage of those; it's just different. This is again the original Mischief cast from the UK, so it's a well-polished group doing what they do so well.

I think a little bit they've lost the spirit of the plucky community theater troupe that came through a bit more in the original Play, but it's still a great deal of fun.

Bottom Line

I got exactly what I expected. It was silly. I laughed a lot. I enjoyed the spectacle immensely, and would recommend it highly to anyone who likes to have a silly good time.

The original UK company will be playing through July 9. I suspect the show will continue thereafter, but don't know for sure. Either way: just go. Laugh.