There’s a fine art to making a farce this wrong go so right!
...At least I think it did, but there is so much that goes wrong in THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG that it is very difficult to tell. This 1920s whodunit, chocked full of bellylaughs, has everything you never wanted in a show — an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines).
Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences. Part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, this Olivier Award–winning comedy is a global phenomenon that’s guaranteed to leave you aching with chortles, chuckles, cackles and howls.
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields for London's Mischief Theatre, and now playing at the La Mirada Theatre through February 16th, this play within a play has been billed as a willfully crude descendant of Michael Frayn’s NOISES OFF, the greatest of all backstage farces. Unlike Mr. Frayn’s comedy, however, which concentrates mostly on the personalities and conflicts within a theater company, this one focuses exclusively on onstage mayhem, the kind that leaves its cast either bloody, bowed, ultimately out cold or having a nervous breakdown.
The premise involves a hapless troupe of aspiring stagers from the fictional Cornley Drama Society who has miraculously landed a big-city theater for its thriller, "The Murder at Haversham Manor," a creaky, country-house whodunit in the cobwebbed tradition of Agatha Christie’s THE MOUSETRAP. The production involves a double layer of acting requiring exact timing, with an extraordinary cast playing amateur actors within the play with each actor's personal foibles impacting the outcome — for better or for worse.
The show is preceded by an anxious introduction from its leading man, Chris (John Sanders) as he vacillates with the audience between arrogance and self-abasement, describing earlier productions (“James! Where’s your Peach?”) by the company that, unfortunately, had to be retitled because of limited budgets: “Two Sisters,” “The Lion and the Wardrobe” and “Cat.”
A plethora of disasters befalling the blissfully goofy actors include sticking doors, props falling from the walls, floors collapsing, pratfalls, spit-takes, cast members struck by set pieces, misplaced and broken props, forgotten lines, missed cues, breaking character, drinking white spirit instead of whisky, mispronounced words, fingers stepped on, cast members hidden in a grandfather clock, brutal back stage fights, and, well, pretty much every other disaster ever to unfold during any live theatrical performance, ever. One cast member is knocked unconscious (one of the highlights of the play), and her replacement, the group's technician, refuses to yield when she returns. I could say more, but would spoil the considerable delights of a new viewer.
I will say that the physical comedy is a uniform blast and is indeed impressive, coming fast and furious but requires precise spot-on timing from the players while performing delicious droll deliveries. You can credit that to Director Eric Petersen, who probably deserves combat pay for directing what this talented company must master, and who keeps the onstage energy from flagging.
The cast is actually a bevy of professionalism: the characters featured are Chris (John Sanders; Brdwy: “Groundhog Day”), who plays Inspector Carter; Jonathan (Sterling Sulieman; “The Vampire Diaries”), who plays Charles Haversham; Robert (Trent Mills; Ntl Tour: “Evil Dead, the Musical”), who plays Thomas Colleymoore; Dennis (Reggie De Leon; Brdwy & 1st Ntl Tour: “Aladdin”), who plays Perkins the butler; Sandra (Regina Fernandez; “The Comedy of Errors”), who plays Florence Colleymoore; Max (Garrett Clayton; NBC’s “Hairspray Live”), who plays both Cecil Haversham and Arthur the Gardener; Trevor (Michael-Leon Wooley; Brdwy: Voice of Audrey 2 - ”Little Shop of Horrors”), the lighting and sound technician; and Annie (Mary Faber; Brdwy: “American Idiot”), the stage manager. Swings are Alyssa Anne Austin (“Murder on the Orient Express”), Danny Montooth (“The Walt Disney Company”) and Jamie Morgan (“War Horse”).
At least 50 percent of the comic bits in this intensely physical comedy involve failures with the scenery (brilliantly designed by Czerton Lim): wall hangings fall, a door won't open, an elevator malfunctions, etc. The set, in fact, is so integral to the story that it virtually becomes another character in the show — one of the reasons the Broadway production of the play won the Tony for Best Scenic Design. “This set is a bloody deathtrap,” complains the stage manager at one point. That is correct, but even the set has been technically timed, cued, marked and choreographed within an inch of its life. Few have done collapsing sets so convincingly.
And, when you think about it, we all know that when your world is falling apart, there’s perverse comfort in watching things go smash in a safe, contained environment (and no, I’m not talking about the white house). Such is the brutal allure of monster truck jams, steel-cage wrestling matches, even those fail-army videos on youtube. That is also the appeal of La Mirada Theatre’s THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, which is as close to a demolition derby as we are likely to see on stage. But whatever visions of chaos your imagination summons, the odds are that this show’s artfully bumbling team will exceed them.
My audience, for the record, roared as loudly as the crowds at any wrestling match. And by the end, my face was hurting from laughter….By the way, has anyone seen my ledger?
LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT, IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CORNLEY POLYTECHNIC DRAMA SOCIETY, PRESENTS, THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG. Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields; Directed by Eric Petersen; Scenic Design by Czerton Lim for Lincoln Park, PAC; Lighting Design by Steven Young; Sound Design by Josh Bessom; Costume Design by Adam Ramirez; Hair/Wig Design by Katie McCoy Yagen; Pyrotechnic Design by Eric Elias; Fight Coordination by Michael Polak; Properties Coordination by Kevin Williams. The Casting Director is Lindsay Brooks and Production Stage Manager is Talia Krispel.
THE CAST: Garrett Clayton as “Max;” Reggie De Leon as “Dennis;” Mary Faber as “Annie;” Regina Fernandez as “Sandra;” Trent Mills as “Robert;” John Sanders as “Chris;” Sterling Sulieman as “Jonathan;” and Michael-Leon Wooley as “Trevor.” Alyssa Anne Austin, Danny Montooth, Jamie Morgan are Swings.
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG runs January 25th through Sunday, February 16th at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada. Performances are Thursdays at 7:30 pm; Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 2 pm & 8 pm; and Sundays at 1:30 pm & 6:30 pm. No performance Sunday, January 27 at 6:30 pm. There will be an Open-Captioned performance Saturday, February 8 at 2:00 pm and a talkback Thursday, January 30 at 7:30 pm and Thursday, February 13 at 7:30 pm. Parking is Free. Tickets range from $19 - $90 and available at www.LaMiradaTheatre.com or by calling (562) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310.
Chris Daniels
Arts & Entertainment Reviewer
The Show Report
PHOTO CREDIT: Jason Niedle/TETHOS
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