Dramaturgical

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

AN INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN SAYER

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG was written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, founding members of the Mischief Theatre. It premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London in 2012 as a one act version, then moved to Trafalgar Studios in 2013. A UK tour followed starting in January 2014 at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury and visiting 17 venues and ending in Darlington in July, prior to being given a West End venue. The play then opened at the Duchess Theatre in September 2014, where it remains and is currently booking until October 2022.

The original cast then opened the play on Broadway in 2017 at the Lyceum Theatre with JJ Abrams making his debut as a theatrical producer and becoming the longest running play on Broadway at the time with 745 regular performances and 27 previews. It is currently running Off-Broadway at the New World Stages.

It has been performed in over 35 countries across six continents, winning multiple awards around the world including the WhatsOnStage and Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.

The following is an interview with Jonathan Sayer that appeared in the Times of Turnbridge Wells in October 2021.

JONATHAN SAYER 

WHO ARE MISCHIEF THEATRE?

We started off in 2008 as a group who specialized in improvised comedy but now we create new comedy for theatre and television. We began performing in Edinburgh and London and are now bringing our work to lots of different places all over the world!

WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG?

There are three writers so there are a few different answers. I suppose we have all worked in theatre and have experiences of things going awry in shows we have been in. Some of my favorite moments watching theatre has been where things have gone dreadfully wrong and the actors are forced to deal with the mistake and try to keep the show on track.

“We all made a pact together a long time ago that if something isn’t funny we’d just say it isn’t funny. I think writing comedy is like plumbing – if a guy comes round to fix your taps and they’re still leaking, you say it’s still leaking. He won’t be upset, it’s just a practical thing and I think you’ve got to try and approach this work in the same way.”

HOW DID YOU CREATE THE SCRIPT?

The three of us were living together at the time in a pretty run down flat in Gunnersbury. We were all working in bars and call centers and restaurants and, in the evenings, we’d come home and we’d write until the early hours. The initial script I think took about a month to put together and we then workshopped the script with the rest of the Mischief team. Everyone’s done a lot of improv so we try and take those principles into the writing room and into rehearsal where if someone has an idea you accept it and you build on it.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE FUNNY?

We all made a pact together a long time ago that if something isn’t funny we’d just say it isn’t funny. I think writing comedy is like plumbing – if a guy comes round to fix your taps and they’re still leaking, you say it’s still leaking. He won’t be upset, it’s just a practical thing and I think you’ve got to try and approach this work in the same way. It’s subjective and you’ve got to have personal distance. As long as you’re always scrutinizing in a positive way, that’s only going to make the work better.

YOU CAN BE HONEST: ARE THE UNFORTUNATE ACTORS DEPICTED BASED ON ANYONE IN REAL LIFE?

Ha ha! Nobody is being directly spoofed! The characters were all found in rehearsal and through performing in front of an audience. That said we’ve all been part of productions that have gone wrong and we’ve all made mistakes on stage (although hopefully nothing as catastrophic as in this play!) There’s a lot of experience to draw on for finding who the characters are and how they respond to embarrassment. Some of the events in the play seem like an actor’s worst nightmare!

HAVE YOU HAD ANY FEEDBACK FROM ACTORS THEMSELVES?

Lots of actors come up to us at the end of shows, be they professional or amateur, with some fantastic stories of things that have happened to them in different productions. I think the show has quite a cathartic effect for them. But it’s not just actors, I think the idea of making a fool of yourself in front of a huge number of people is something that everyone can relate to. Everyone has felt that feeling where they want the ground to open up and swallow them, so they get on side with the characters in the play and they really want them to get to the end of the show!

THIS SHOW’S JOURNEY HAS BEEN A RAGS TO RICHES STORY. HAS THE SUCCESS OF THE SHOW SURPRISED YOU?

Absolutely. I remember about 10 years ago performing in our improv show and there were more people on stage than there were in the audience so of course it’s a surprise! We’ve been totally blown away by the response. We’re so thrilled that people enjoy the work and the characters and that we’ve been able to make so many different people laugh. The show began in such a small way performing in a 60-seater pub theatre so for it now to be being enjoyed in huge venues all around the world is very humbling and wonderful.