The Play That Goes Wrong

100487 original

The show has started before we’ve even taken our seats. A nervy stagehand and curmudgeonly lighting tech from Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are enlisting the help of audience members in prepping the stage for Murder at Haversham Manor. Duct tape is failing. The tech has lost his Duran Duran CD. As you might imagine, this is about when things start to go wrong.

Play That Goes Wrong, already a West End hit, could very well be the most enjoyable piece of comedy you'll take in at the Fringe. Each cast member from London's Mischief Theatre is uniquely magnetic. And watching the show fall apart (literally – watch your head) not only feeds our lust for comedy chaos, but reveals the tropes of mediocre theatre with cerebral glee. The leading lady who can't stop pouting in the spotlight, the butler who fudges polysyllabic words – it's with an almost insiderish flare that that the layers of The Play That Goes Wrong's inventiveness shine through.

The slapstick is virtually non-stop (dragging only by the slightest degree), but executed with brilliant fluency. However, the show's real goldmine is the subtle development of the story within the play within the play: the slow breakdown of the exhausted director (Henry Shields) performing as the intrepid inspector, and the gradual, misguided hubris of lovable doofus Cecil (Dave Hearn) are portrayed with fantastic artistry. Mischief Theatre's young talent are certainly ones to keep an eye on.