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The Play That Goes Wrong ~ Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Jordan Wright
December 22, 2018 

Take a deep breath – or two – then prepare to fall down laughing.  From start to rollicking finish this steroidally hilarious play-within-a-play never misses a comedic beat as this splendid twelve-member cast proves that anything that can go wrong, will.  You know the old chestnut of Murphy’s Law, well, its tidy aphorism is cheekily born out here.  Someone must have said the forbidden word, “Macbeth” backstage, because the Cornley University Drama Society proceeds to offer up a shining example of the ineptest group of actors to ever tread the boards.  And it’s just delicious!

Peyton Crim, Yaegel T. Welch and Jamie Ann Romero ~ Photo by Jeremy Daniel

In trying to stage “The Murder at Haversham Manor”, this cockeyed amateur troupe shows that the play’s the thing – until it isn’t.  Pratfalls, mishaps, blown cues and botched exits abound, dead bodies won’t stay dead and malapropisms are the order of the day, all done with a straight face and a stiff upper lip.

Angela Grovey, Yaegel T_ Welch and Jamie Ann Romero ~ Photo by Jeremy Danie

It is the night of the engagement party of Florence Colleymore to Charles Haversham who has been found murdered. When Inspector Carter shows up to interrogate the estate’s fashionable guests, he doesn’t know whether to point the finger at Florence the sexpot, her supercilious brother Thomas, Charles’ cuckolding brother Cecil, Perkins the bumbling Butler, or Arthur the absent gardener.  But it hardly matters in this whodunnit.  With all the mayhem and mischief, everyone is under the microscope.

Ned Noyes and Scott Cote ~ Photo by Jeremy Daniel

The only ones who remain relatively unscathed in this twisted mystery are the unnamed Stage Manager and the Duran Duran fanboy whose miscues and mishaps on lights and sound add to the cast’s confusion and the audience’s delight when they too wind up on stage to fill in for cast members who have been knocked unconscious by falling portraits or secret revolving doors.  If you’ve ever acted in or staged a production, you’ll commiserate with props that aren’t where they’re supposed to be, actors who are self-absorbed hams, sets that fall apart, and doors that won’t open.  Especially funny is a dueling divas’ scene when Florence revives from an accident only to discover her role has been taken over by the lowly Stage Manager.  Meow!

The Play That Goes Wrong Photo by Jeremy Daniel

Highly recommended.  A clever goofball sendup that’s guaranteed to keep you guffawing long after you’ve left the theatre.

Presented by Mischief Theatre and written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields with Scott Cote, Peyton Crim, Brandon J. Ellis, Angela Grovey, Ned Noyes, Jamie Ann Romero, Evan Alexander Smith, Yaegel T. Welch, Blair Baker, Jacqueline Jarrold, Sid Solomon and Michael Thatcher.

Through January 6th in the Eisenhower Theater at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC.  For tickets and information for future shows call 202 467-4600.

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