The Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields

There are very few plays whereby a directorial vision can be determined by its very title. This is one of them. It is a story about an amateur theatrical company that painstakingly tries to put on the very best show they can—Susie H.K. Brideswell’s “thrilling whodunnit,” The Murder at Haversham Manor. The performance goes sideways moment after moment, with not a single page of text passing sans some mishap. Actors forget lines, props go missing, and the set literally falls apart as the troupe gamely—if ineffectively⎯adjusts. Reminiscent of Michael Frayan’s Noises Off with a touch of the mechanicals from Midsummer, the Cornley Players try to right the wrongs of no less than three dozen such occurrences throughout the play. It is British comedy at its fullest in the spirit of Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, and Keeping Up Appearances. The humor is as cheeky as the farce that grounds the piece. And like all comedy, the fun rests with the characters engaging the given circumstances with authenticity and complete seriousness. For the Cornley Players nothing is more important than delivering Susie H.K. Brideswell’s gem of a murder mystery with flair and conviction. Would the set and props had been more agreeable…