THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG
Reviews
The entire cast is impressive. There are almost as many physical feats as you would find in a Cirque show. And director Matt DiCarlo does a beautiful job of crafting the kind of chaotic choreography that seems impossible to be rehearsed. It’s so bad, it’s almost ingenious. Unfortunately it’s a hit and miss show that goes on way too long. But still, it’s the kind of show you should have a few drinks with, or before, and enjoy the escape it provides.
Nigel Hooks' ingenious collapsing set is the heart and soul of this production, but not without a troupe of eight performers willing and physically able to make it work. One almost wonders if each of right Wrong player had to be a graduate of a physical workshop led by the late Marcel Marceau before studying agility with Cirque du Soleil and completing a season training with the U.S. Olympics gymnastic team.
The Play That Goes Wrong takes no prisoners and never apologizes for being as outlandish and over the top as ‘play’ can get. We ought to thank them for giving us a good laugh, especially at ourselves.
...the audience is led like the gardener’s invisible dog on a leash by director Matt DiCarlo and Mischief Theatre writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields through ceaseless hysterics in a circus-like performance.
“The Play That Goes Wrong” will have you laughing from the moment you take your seat all the way through the curtain call. What I enjoyed about “The Play That Goes Wrong” is that it’s a play within a play, as “The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society" perform their newest murder mystery “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” Disasters befall the cast, props are misplaced, coat hooks break, there are multiple sound effect errors, lines forgotten, cues missed, and a lot of ad-libbing. It’s very silly at times, yet fun to watch.
Depending on one’s awareness of bad non-professional theatre, and a willingness to go along with its madness on a well-constructed set (Nigel Hook) eccentric lighting (Ric Montjoy), and a well-thought-out costume design (Roberto Surace), a good time is to be had. Just be willing to sink into the demands of “bad” theatre produced by unfettered professionalism.
Directed with precision by Mark Bell, the slapstick comedy written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields provides a temporary escape from the weight of reality. The combined efforts of the talented company transport the audience into an uproarious extravaganza that makes our world seem pretty sane in comparison.
Hilarious, hysterical, sidesplitting, uproarious, quirky, off-the-wall – these are all adjectives which could be applied to this witty and very funny farce. THE PLAY THAT WENT WRONG Is a tour-de-force for visual comedy, cleverly enacted by an energetic and enthusiastic crew of ensemble actors who seem to read each other’s minds. Directed by Matt DiCarlo (the real-life helmsman), THE PLAY THAT WENT WRONG doesn’t miss a beat in turning every trope and possible error into a laugh.
The show is quite funny at times, with moments so hilarious you’ll laugh until you cry, but it’s too long and loses the comedic momentum it builds for itself.
So nonstop hilarious is the latest National Tour playing a visit to the Ahmanson, The Play That Goes Wrong just might hold the laugh-a-minute record for a West End-to-Broadway comedy smash.
You’ll either find it convulsively hilarious, shrug your shoulders with “It is what it is,” or deem it a tedious, forced and overlong concoction of heavy-handed — and at times shockingly unfunny — sight gags, collapsing props, assorted accidents, and a waste of great actors playing hammy thespians.
My vote is with the latter.
Timing, physical gags that make the audience gasp and truly terrible acting make this production out perform Noises Off! at every turn. Noises Off! used to be the standard for really silly theatre but! No longer! TPTWG is now at the top of my list and as the promo that suggests that "Monty Python meets Sherlock Holmes" isn't far from worng! For another silly reference, I mention the very silly Firesign Theatre just to see if this gets a mention in another on line venue. See this show!!
But, even with my dearth of mirth, I recognize the brilliance of every little bit, every little line; it’s awesome to behold. It’s all so nutty, in a good way. So I’m advising you to not judge harshly if it doesn’t make you laugh out loud the entire time; just sit back and enjoy watching this uber-precise work, and the crowd, as well.
Timing is everything and the combination of design, stagehand expertise, and the actors' dexterity makes it all tick like clockwork.
This is a play for everyone. Even the younger set in the audience was guffawing and giggling throughout. This is a terrific night at the theatre and will have you walking out on a silly high.
This spoof of a 1920s drawing room drama out-spoofs even the venerable Noises-off. The fictional Cornley University Drama Society production of (organ music here) “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” comes to us as The Play That Goes Wrong. The equally fictional program notes by Chris Bean (Evan Alexander Smith), the director, voice coach, dialect coach, fight choreographer, casting director and costume designer for the drama society, are worth the price of the ticket. Laughter begins almost immediately when the curtain rises on Jonathan Haversham’s “dead” body (Yaegel T. Welch) before he has crawled into place, and it just goes wronger from there.
The piece de resistance of the evening involves the malfunctioning set that is so genius that it received its own Tony Award for the Broadway production. The only sour note forces ingénue Florence Colleymoore (Jamie Ann Romero) and “stage manager” Annie (Angela Grovey) into a senseless and unfunny battle with each other for supremacy at the end of the play.
Slapstick may get tiresome, but these actors are magicians so adept at physical comedy that they turn the stage upside down. It's a laugh.a.minute treat!
Once the action begins, it does not slow down for a second, with the hijinks and laughter coming seemingly a mile a minute. It is a good, old-fashioned farce reminiscent of the classic Noises Off, and its broad comedy and slapstick humor evoke a simpler time.
The play never established a reality for me that I could then delight in going to hell in a hand basket. Nor for me was there any surprise to the show. Monty Python is funny to me because nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
I’m afraid I just sat there.
The cast is in constant motion. They have to be athletic, have great timing, and of course, be able to deliver the comedy.
Everyone in the show brings their A-game!
Far too often in the theater, actors can’t be heard or bits of business can’t be seen. The best to be said about “The Play That Goes Wrong” at the Ahmanson is that its entire cast can be seen and speaks expertly.
Otherwise, as ironically promised, this play goes wrong. It feels like a high-schooler’s idea of a high-school play that goes wrong, including the self-congratulatory tone.
“The Play That Goes Wrong” amuses with its pranks and pratfalls, especially for those whose brains are sitting under an umbrella on the beach. But the delight becomes something of a chore as the antics stretch on to the point that the mystery of the whodunit becomes a tiresome afterthought. Still, there’s no denying the hilarity of a troupe that unfailingly turns can-do into can-don’t.
The entire cast is impressive. There are almost as many physical feats as you would find in a Cirque show. And director Matt DiCarlo does a beautiful job of crafting the kind of chaotic choreography that seems impossible to be rehearsed. It’s so bad, it’s almost ingenious. Unfortunately it’s a hit and miss show that goes on way too long. But still, it’s the kind of show you should have a few drinks with, or before, and enjoy the escape it provides.
Nigel Hooks' ingenious collapsing set is the heart and soul of this production, but not without a troupe of eight performers willing and physically able to make it work. One almost wonders if each of right Wrong player had to be a graduate of a physical workshop led by the late Marcel Marceau before studying agility with Cirque du Soleil and completing a season training with the U.S. Olympics gymnastic team.
The Play That Goes Wrong takes no prisoners and never apologizes for being as outlandish and over the top as ‘play’ can get. We ought to thank them for giving us a good laugh, especially at ourselves.
...the audience is led like the gardener’s invisible dog on a leash by director Matt DiCarlo and Mischief Theatre writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields through ceaseless hysterics in a circus-like performance.
“The Play That Goes Wrong” will have you laughing from the moment you take your seat all the way through the curtain call. What I enjoyed about “The Play That Goes Wrong” is that it’s a play within a play, as “The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society" perform their newest murder mystery “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” Disasters befall the cast, props are misplaced, coat hooks break, there are multiple sound effect errors, lines forgotten, cues missed, and a lot of ad-libbing. It’s very silly at times, yet fun to watch.
Depending on one’s awareness of bad non-professional theatre, and a willingness to go along with its madness on a well-constructed set (Nigel Hook) eccentric lighting (Ric Montjoy), and a well-thought-out costume design (Roberto Surace), a good time is to be had. Just be willing to sink into the demands of “bad” theatre produced by unfettered professionalism.
Directed with precision by Mark Bell, the slapstick comedy written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields provides a temporary escape from the weight of reality. The combined efforts of the talented company transport the audience into an uproarious extravaganza that makes our world seem pretty sane in comparison.
Hilarious, hysterical, sidesplitting, uproarious, quirky, off-the-wall – these are all adjectives which could be applied to this witty and very funny farce. THE PLAY THAT WENT WRONG Is a tour-de-force for visual comedy, cleverly enacted by an energetic and enthusiastic crew of ensemble actors who seem to read each other’s minds. Directed by Matt DiCarlo (the real-life helmsman), THE PLAY THAT WENT WRONG doesn’t miss a beat in turning every trope and possible error into a laugh.
The show is quite funny at times, with moments so hilarious you’ll laugh until you cry, but it’s too long and loses the comedic momentum it builds for itself.
So nonstop hilarious is the latest National Tour playing a visit to the Ahmanson, The Play That Goes Wrong just might hold the laugh-a-minute record for a West End-to-Broadway comedy smash.
You’ll either find it convulsively hilarious, shrug your shoulders with “It is what it is,” or deem it a tedious, forced and overlong concoction of heavy-handed — and at times shockingly unfunny — sight gags, collapsing props, assorted accidents, and a waste of great actors playing hammy thespians.
My vote is with the latter.
Timing, physical gags that make the audience gasp and truly terrible acting make this production out perform Noises Off! at every turn. Noises Off! used to be the standard for really silly theatre but! No longer! TPTWG is now at the top of my list and as the promo that suggests that "Monty Python meets Sherlock Holmes" isn't far from worng! For another silly reference, I mention the very silly Firesign Theatre just to see if this gets a mention in another on line venue. See this show!!
But, even with my dearth of mirth, I recognize the brilliance of every little bit, every little line; it’s awesome to behold. It’s all so nutty, in a good way. So I’m advising you to not judge harshly if it doesn’t make you laugh out loud the entire time; just sit back and enjoy watching this uber-precise work, and the crowd, as well.
Timing is everything and the combination of design, stagehand expertise, and the actors' dexterity makes it all tick like clockwork.
This is a play for everyone. Even the younger set in the audience was guffawing and giggling throughout. This is a terrific night at the theatre and will have you walking out on a silly high.
This spoof of a 1920s drawing room drama out-spoofs even the venerable Noises-off. The fictional Cornley University Drama Society production of (organ music here) “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” comes to us as The Play That Goes Wrong. The equally fictional program notes by Chris Bean (Evan Alexander Smith), the director, voice coach, dialect coach, fight choreographer, casting director and costume designer for the drama society, are worth the price of the ticket. Laughter begins almost immediately when the curtain rises on Jonathan Haversham’s “dead” body (Yaegel T. Welch) before he has crawled into place, and it just goes wronger from there.
The piece de resistance of the evening involves the malfunctioning set that is so genius that it received its own Tony Award for the Broadway production. The only sour note forces ingénue Florence Colleymoore (Jamie Ann Romero) and “stage manager” Annie (Angela Grovey) into a senseless and unfunny battle with each other for supremacy at the end of the play.
Slapstick may get tiresome, but these actors are magicians so adept at physical comedy that they turn the stage upside down. It's a laugh.a.minute treat!
Once the action begins, it does not slow down for a second, with the hijinks and laughter coming seemingly a mile a minute. It is a good, old-fashioned farce reminiscent of the classic Noises Off, and its broad comedy and slapstick humor evoke a simpler time.
The play never established a reality for me that I could then delight in going to hell in a hand basket. Nor for me was there any surprise to the show. Monty Python is funny to me because nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
I’m afraid I just sat there.
The cast is in constant motion. They have to be athletic, have great timing, and of course, be able to deliver the comedy.
Everyone in the show brings their A-game!
Far too often in the theater, actors can’t be heard or bits of business can’t be seen. The best to be said about “The Play That Goes Wrong” at the Ahmanson is that its entire cast can be seen and speaks expertly.
Otherwise, as ironically promised, this play goes wrong. It feels like a high-schooler’s idea of a high-school play that goes wrong, including the self-congratulatory tone.
“The Play That Goes Wrong” amuses with its pranks and pratfalls, especially for those whose brains are sitting under an umbrella on the beach. But the delight becomes something of a chore as the antics stretch on to the point that the mystery of the whodunit becomes a tiresome afterthought. Still, there’s no denying the hilarity of a troupe that unfailingly turns can-do into can-don’t.