The Play That Goes Wrong
| The Play That Goes Wrong | |
|---|---|
 Official artwork for the West End production transfer to the Duchess Theatre | |
| Written by |
Henry Lewis Jonathan Sayer Henry Shields |
| Date premiered | 2012 |
| Place premiered | Old Red Lion Theatre |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Official site | |
The Play That Goes Wrong is a play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company.
It won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards.[1]
Mischief Theatre Company have also written Peter Pan Goes Wrong which opened at London's Apollo Theatre in December 2015 and starred the original cast from The Play That Goes Wrong.[2]
Plot
Before the play starts the audience see the backstage staff doing last-minute adjustments to the set, including trying to mend a broken mantlepiece, and to find a dog that has run off.
The fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, fresh from such hits as The Lion and The Wardrobe, Cat, and James and the Peach or James, Where's your Peach?, has received a substantial bequest and is putting on a performance of The Murder at Haversham Manor – a 1920s murder mystery play, similar to The Mousetrap, which has the right number of parts for the members. During the production a plethora of disasters befall the cast including: doors sticking; props on the walls falling down; floors collapsing. Cast members are seen misplacing props; forgetting lines (in one scene an actor, repeating an earlier line, causes the dialogue sequence triggered by that line to be repeated, ever more frenetically, several times); missing cues; breaking character; having to drink white spirit instead of whisky; mispronouncing words; stepping on fingers; being hidden in a grandfather clock; and being manhandled off stage with one cast member being knocked unconscious and her replacement (and the group technician) refusing to yield when she returns. The climax is a tribute to a scene in Buster Keaton's film Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), when virtually the whole of the remaining set collapses.
Productions
London (Old Red Lion Theatre 2012 and West End 2013 -)
The play premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London in 2012, moved to Trafalgar Studios in 2013, and opened to the Duchess Theatre in the West End on 14 September 2014, where it is currently booking until February 2018.[3][4][5]
UK Tours
The play began a UK tour, following its run at Trafalgar Studios, from January 2014 at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, visiting 17 venues and ending in Darlington in July, prior to the opening at the Duchess Theatre in London.
The play began a second UK tour from January 2017, starting at the Theatre Royal in Bath, ending at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in August.
Broadway (2017)
On 14 November 2016 it was announced that the play would transfer to Broadway. The play opened on 2 April 2017, with previews that began on 9 March 2017 at the Lyceum Theatre. The production features the original London cast, and film director J. J. Abrams makes his debut as a theatrical producer.[6]
Australian Tour (2017)
A touring production began in Australia at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne from February 2017, before heading to Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth.
Awards and nominations
Original London production
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | WhatsOnStage Award | Best New Comedy | Won | |
| 2015 | BroadwayWorld UK Award | Best New Play | Won | |
| Laurence Olivier Award | Best New Comedy | Won |
Original Broadway production
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Tony Award | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Nigel Hook | Won |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play | Won | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Set Design | Nominated | ||
| Drama League Award | Best Play | Nominated | ||
Reception
The Play That Goes Wrong received positive reviews. Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail gave it five stars out of five, saying "As it all goes awry it becomes hard not to gas yourself with laughter. At one point I feared I was going to hyperventilate."[7] Tim Walker of The Telegraph gave it four out of five stars and called it "a great-looking, brilliantly performed piece".[8]
The Broadway production of The Play That Goes Wrong won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Play.
International
The Play That Goes Wrong has been translated and licensed for productions in over 20 other countries, namely China, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Greece, Israel, Scandinavia, France, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Argentina, Uruguay, Turkey, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines and South Africa.[9]
References
- ↑ "Best New Comedy". Olivier Awards. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "Home | Peter Pan Goes Wrong". www.peterpangoeswrong.com. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
- ↑ Brown, Mark (17 October 2014). "The Play That Goes Wrong proves right for West End". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "The Play That Goes Wrong". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG Extends Through Next Autumn; PETER PAN GOES WRONG Set for Holiday Season". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
- ↑ " 'The Play That Goes Wrong' Opens on Broadway April 2" Playbill, 2 April 2017
- ↑ Letts, Quentin (4 July 2013). "Comedy of errors gets it right". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ Walker, Tim (18 September 2014). "The Play That Goes Wrong, Duchess Theatre, review: 'delightful'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ↑ "West End Frame: Peter Pan Goes Wrong transferring to the West End whilst The Play That Goes Wrong extends booking period". www.westendframe.com. Retrieved 2015-10-28.