I was lucky enough to see "the play that goes wrong" at the beginning of last month and way back in June/July I saw "the comedy about a bank robbery tour". They also filmed "Peter Pan goes wrong" for the BBC last year, however I ended up watching the recording on Youtube as it wasn't on Iplayer when I found out about its existence (they took the recording off of Youtube but you can still find clips of the show). "Groan ups" ended its West End run on the 1st of this month, which really sucks, on the positive side they are going to be going on tour next year so keep an eye out. Last but not least, "Magic goes wrong" is now officially playing at the Vaudeville in London.
With all that said, lets actually get into the meat of the discussion....SPOILER ALERT!!!
"The play that goes wrong" is currently playing at the Duchess theatre, which is the smallest theatre in the West End. Upon hearing this information, I began to doubt the quality of the play as generally unpopular plays and amateur dramatics are held in small theatres. I was wrong. So, so, so wrong! The smaller space made the play more intimate, which worked really well for this production in particular as it enabled the actors to access the audience easier and made it easier to become immersed in the show.
You are probably wondering why the actors needed easy access to the audience or what the play is actually about? Well, the play is about an amateur dramatics society ( The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society) trying to put on a murder mystery play (The murder at Haversham Manor) and everything going completely wrong. The actors needed audience access because they interact with the audience at various points in the play and at the beginning and after the interval, the actors playing the technicians/backstage crew come through the audience searching for the company's missing dog, Winston. For those of you who are worried about getting tickets in the circle, fear not! The actors rush through both the stalls and the circle. The actor playing Trevor, has a technicians box situated on the far right of the circle, which means throughout the show he makes entrances and exits via the circle.
Speaking of Trevor, if you look at his box, you will find Duran Duran posters. This sounds pretty random and to be honest it is. So why have them displayed? Because the technician is obsessed to the point of playing the music accidentally, zoning out to the music whilst the play is on and making innumerable references to Duran Duran.
Trevor and Sandra are really unusual characters simply for the fact that the actors have to play the roles of a technician and an understudy. This also makes them brilliant to watch as it takes talent to play an understudy who is scared of performing (although the longer she is on stage, the more she steals the spotlight) and a technician who is easily distracted yet has a solution for most things.
The actual set itself is incredible, there are too many parts that brake or fall to pieces for me to talk about in this post so I am just going to focus on the main one. For those of you who watched the royal variety performance in 2015, you will know exactly what I'm on about. At the end of the play, the entire set falls to pieces. This a spectacular technical feat as it would have had to be designed in a way which does not crush the actors. The actors also had to anticipate the collapse without showing the audience that they were anticipating it.
For those of you who are interested, you will find a video clip of the royal variety performance below.
Let's talk about all of the actors. I am seriously amazed by how they are able to perform a show like this every night. Sure, keeping a straight face during a comedic scene is a basic actor's skill which is absolutely essential for any actor planning on tackling comedic theatre, however this company takes it to a whole new level. They are able to keep up the energy, keep a straight face, and manage to hide the fact that they are anticipating everything. It is this combination of techniques that shows the true skill of the actors onstage.
Speaking of comedy, keep an eye out for Winston the dog. He never actually appears in adorable dog form during the play, however you will be able to find a portrait of him above the mantelpiece at the beginning of the play, they make a joke about him which had me in hysterics, especially as I am a bit of a history geek. You will also be able to find a portrait of him on a poster inside "the theatre cafe" on St Martin's Lane in London.
Okay so what's my overall verdict? This show is seriously underrated, for those of you who find puns, slapstick and physical comedy hilarious go and see it! I would love to recommend this play to everyone but it is a comedy and everyone has a different sense of humor.
On a different note, you may be wondering what type of audience this is suitable for. There are some small "references" but these are subtle enough to make them family friendly. In "the comedy about a bank robbery" there is an entire scene/section dedicated to humor of this nature, so just be aware of that.
What is your favourite type of comedy? Have you seen any mischief comedy shows? What do you think about the performance style? For those of you who have seen the show, what is your favourite joke? and more importantly, do you think they will ever find Winston? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments and we can all have a laugh!
I would talk about the programme but that's a thing in itself and I am planning on doing a post about my year in theatre, so I will probably end up talking about it then.
That's all for now, thank you so much for reading and stay tuned as soon I'll be having a long discussion about my year in theatre.
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