With a title like The Play That Goes Wrong, you know immediately you are in for a comedy. A big, brash, very funny comedy. Playwrights Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields are behind this madcap show that had its start in England and then moved to Broadway. The Play That Goes Wrong officially opens on Wednesday at the Ahmanson Theatre. It will play there through August 11th.
The setting of the play is a classic British murder mystery. The play being performed is called The Murder at Haversham Manor. (Is the name of the manor an allusion to the spinster in Great Expectations?) But nothing is going to go as it should in that play. Or better year nothing will go right. After all, this is The Play That Goes Wrong.
While on Broadway The Play that Goes Wrong ran for 737 performances. Mischief Theatre originally presented the play at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London. Amongst the producers of the show is J.J. Abrams (Star Wars and Star Trek movies) who loved the show so much in England and wanted to make sure audiences here got the chance to enjoy the show as much as he did.
The cast of The Play That Goes Wrong includes Scott Cote, Peyton Crim, Brandon J. Ellis, Angela Grovey, Ned Noyes, Jamie Ann Romero, Evan Alexander Smith, Yaegel T. Welch, Blair Baker, Jacqueline Jarrold, Sid Solomon and Michael Thatcher.
Matt DiCarlo directs the tour based on Mark Bell’s original direction.
The running time of the show is 2 hours and 5 minutes which includes the intermission.
There are gunshots, smoking and/or stage chemicals and strobe lights. And a whole lot of mistakes – but those are on purpose.
The Play That Goes Wrong will move to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Theatre after closing at The Ahmanson.
For tickets at The Ahmanson go here.
Main Photo: L-R: Scott Cote, Yaegel T. Welch, Peyton Crim, Jamie Ann Romero and Ned Noyes in The Play That Goes Wrong. Photo by Jeremy Daniel/Courtesy of Center Theatre Group