The Play That Goes Wrong

So here I am, posting a review from Sydney after The Play That Goes Wrong has played Melbourne and Adelaide and reviewers have raved from both cities. 

The play has been running on the West End for three years. It opens on Broadway this month and follow-up productions proliferate: Peter Pan Goes Wrong is coming. Apart from its attack on amateur dramatics, what can I say that might stem the flow?

The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s production of The Murder at Haversham Manor gets off to an unfortunate start when cast members step on the dead fingers of Cecil Haversham. He shrieks. Things go wrong and wronger from that moment.

The cast yell their way through every predicament. Not for a moment is there a pause. Often two or three or four actors are yelling at the same time.

This is not Farce, with characters caught in a horrible web of their own making. This is the return of Slapstick, where physical comedy – pratfalls, tripping, falling ­- is highlighted over dialogue, plot or character development.

As such, it’s excellent, I suppose. The whole set is Slapstick Heaven, coming to an end right on cue. As to who these people are, what they want and whether they get it or not, you are left none the wiser.

So here’s what I will say: Noises Off by Michael Frayn, the farce of the century. Not only does it have ghastly events happening in performance, but it’s hilarious and believable and sad in equal measure. The Sydney Theatre Company’s recent production was brilliant. I could hear every word.

Frank Hatherley

Photographer: Jeff Busby