Someone’s Murdered Charles Haversham!

The Play That Goes Wrong – Broadway in Chicago

Anyone who’s ever performed in or worked on a play, or even sat in the audience of a production, knows that in theatre, from time to time, anything that CAN go wrong—WILL go wrong. Theatre is rife with unforeseen possibilities. Lines can be dropped, the set might create a problem, a prop may be misplaced, a light or sound cue could malfunction, a costume might rip, and so on. The three clever Brits who penned this hysterical farce know of what they write. They’ve incorporated into this mock murder melodrama every conceivable boo boo and blunder that’s ever challenged the cast of a play. The result is two hours of unstoppable mayhem and riotous laughter. Remember, as you’re watching this insanity, that just when you think it can’t get any funnier, another unbelievable incident is going to top what you’ve just witnessed.  

So I offer two warnings if you’re planning to see “The Play That Goes Wrong,” and I strongly urge you do so. The first is to bring along an oxygen tank when you attend this show, because you’re going to laugh until you hyperventilate. This is, without a doubt, the funniest comedy around, with more laughs per minute than any other play since “Noises Off.”

The second warning is to be in your seats at least 15 minutes prior to curtain time. Don’t hang out in the lobby drinking or noshing until the last minute because the real fun is going on in the theatre. Before the actual play begins, a pre-show performance commences. If you look around you’ll notice a distraught young woman in blue jeans frantically running up and down the aisles of the theatre, checking under the seats and calling out “Winston!” She’s Annie Twilloil, the company stage manager, and she’s looking for a missing cast member, an escaped springer spaniel, whose portrait hangs over the fireplace. Annie’s joined by Trevor Watson, a punk young man dressed all in black. He’s the lighting and sound board operator for the play that we’re about to enjoy, but he has his own agenda. When he’s not warning audience members to watch out for loose lighting instruments that may fall on them, or finishing up some last minute repairs to the set, Trevor is trying to locate his collection of Duran Duran CDs that he’s sure someone has pinched. That mystery will infect the sound cues later in the production. 

The two stagehands confer about a whole slew of opening night production problems, not the least of which are several technical difficulties. The door won’t stay shut; then it won’t open. The mantel in the English drawing room stage set keeps falling off, the push broom breaks—all temporarily fixed by the combination of a willing audience volunteer and yards of duct tape.

Finally, the play-within-the-play, “Murder at Haversham Manor,” begins. Chris Bean, the head of the Cornley Drama Society amateur theatrical group, which is now touring this murder mystery around the States, is the director of the play we’re about to see. Mr. Bean welcomes the audience to his first production. He then apologizes to those theatergoers who may have attended their previous ill-fated, low budget productions, such as Chekov’s “Two Sisters,” their summer musical, “Cat,” and their holiday children’s productions of “Ugly…and the Beast” and “James! Where’s Your Peach?” 

As the lights dim, Annie’s still trying to attach the broken mantel but she has to give up and leave the stage so the play can begin. In the blackout, Jonathan, playing Charles Haversham, enters, trips and falls, and the lights suddenly come up on him, lying on the floor and crawling to the chais. Someone, it seems, has murdered Charles Haversham! Robert, playing Charles’ best friend, Thomas Colleymoore, enters with Perkins, the butler, played by company member, Dennis. Then, with one final gasp, we’re off at full tilt on this slapstick, high-speed roller coaster ride. 

The other actors in this murder mystery include Max, who plays both Charles’ brother, Cecil Haversham, as well as the family’s trusted gardener, Arthur; sexy Sandra, who portrays Florence Colleymoore, Thomas’ sister and Charles’ fiancee; and Chris who, besides directing this mystery, also plays the officious Inspector Carter. It would be an injustice to spoil the fun by providing any further details of the plot. Suffice it say that this is the flat-out funniest, most frantically fast-paced comedy that theatergoers will likely ever see.

The play is the brainchild of Britain’s Mischief Theatre, a company that was founded by graduates of the famed London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. It began as an improv comedy group, but has gone on to write and perform original scripts all over the world. “The Play That Goes Wrong,” written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, is in its seventh successful year in London’s West End. It won England’s Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2015, and, deservedly, earned both the Drama Desk and Tony Awards for Best Scenic Design of a Play, when it later transferred to Broadway.

Chicago was treated to a magnificent National Tour a few years ago. But this brand new production, which features a primarily Chicago-based cast of talented actors, is once again directed by Matt DiCarlo. He’s guided his actors with the theatrical skill of a highly-caffeinated air traffic controller. There are, however, a few sightline problems experienced from the front, right side of the audience. These could be easily corrected by shifting a couple actors a little further stage left. That way the comedy occurring in the manor house window would be visible to everyone.

The technical artistry in this production attends to every detail. Nigel Hook’s incredible scenic design will astound theatergoers. His award-winning stage setting is like a whole other character in the story. Hook’s work is supported by Ric Mountjoy’s creative lighting design, perfectly adapted for the Broadway Playhouse by Jeremy Cunningham. Andrew Johnson’s evocative sound design, that includes Rob Falconer’s delightfully dramatic pre-show and scenic mood music, is reinterpreted here by Beth Lake. And an array of saucy, typically British period costumes were designed by Roberto Surace. 

Audiences will find the amount of talent, expertise, physical skill and sheer stamina on display in this funny, frenetically-paced production simply unbelievable. Each of the performers in this production is a true star and highly deserves the standing ovation they received opening night. Near the front of the program, be sure to read the faux advertisements and fictional profiles of the “actors,” as well as the humorous Letter From the President, that Chris Bean has written for his audiences’ enlightenment. 

The cast includes Ernaisja Curry, as Stage Manager Annie, who’s forced to become a last minute understudy; Colton Adams, as Trevor, a techie lost in his own world; and Matt Mueller, as Chris, the company’s president, the director of “Murder at Haversham Manor,” and also playing the role of Inspector Carter. Sandra, the actress who plays Florence Colleymoore, is portrayed with vixen vivacity by Kelly O’Sullivan; her possessive brother Thomas Colleymoore is played by Jonah D. Winston; Michael Kurowski portrays Dennis, the actor playing Perkins the butler, who’s written some of his difficult dialogue and vocabulary on his hand; Jonathan/Charles Haversham is played by the very impressive Joseph Anthony Byrd; and, almost stealing the show with his portrayal of Max, a hammy first-time actor, is Jarred Webb, who’s simply hilarious as both Cecil Haversham and Arthur, the gardener.

By the end of this production, audiences will have laughed at every theatrical blunder, miscue, faux pas, snafu and slip of the tongue to ever be seen in a play. From guns that won’t fire (“Just die, for Christ’s sake!”), mistaken sound effects and a stage set and a lighting grid on the verge of completely falling apart (“Death and destruction shall prevail”), theatergoers of all ages will be gasping for air after having laughed their heads off. The final line of the play declares, “Let us hope we never again see a murder at Haversham Manor.” But, every appreciative audience member will probably be saying, “Oh please, let us hope that we do!”

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas    

Presented December 14-January 30 by Broadway in Chicago at the Broadway Playhouse Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago.

Tickets are available at all Broadway in Chicago box offices, the BIC Ticket Line at 800-775-2000 or online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.