New Kennedy Center production embraces mishaps Zany comedy ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ offers gut-busting gags

from Washington Blade, Volume 54, Issue 30, July 28, 2023

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By PATRICK FOLLIARD

Theater is no stranger to mishaps and mistakes, but with “The Play That Goes Wrong,” currently playing at the Kennedy Center, they’re invited and relished.

Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields’ zany comedy is a play within a play titled, “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” presented by the ﬁctitious Cornley University Drama Society. We meet the usual cast of characters — British toffs, servants, and an inspector — but the hitch is that a lot goes wrong from ﬂubbed lines, missed cues, breaking character to a collapsing set. In fact, every possible thing that can go wrong does.

The hijinks begin even before the play begins, including a couple of staged disagreements in the aisles of the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. And from there it further unravels in myriad ways.

An excellent cast of actors plays a not-so-great cast of actors taking a stab at doing a 1920s murder mystery similar to Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap.” Kennedy Center cast members include players who have previously performed in “The Play That Goes Wrong” – hugely successful runs on Broadway, the National Tour, the recent Chicago production, and the current Off-Broadway production.

Alex Mandell gives a memorable comic turn as giggly Max. As stage manager Annie (Kai Almeda) reluctantly takes over for the eager leading lead (Mara Davi) who’s been knocked out cold and can’t go on. But increasingly the stage manager grows to like the limelight, and when the lead eventually comes to and wants her part back, Annie is loathe to cooperate. It’s funny.

Also featured are Bartley Booz as the butler, a melliﬂuous voiced Peyton Crim, Akron Watson as Trevor, “the Cornley Drama Society’s lighting and sound operator, and later the stage manager. He joined the society for extra credit on his electronics module in order to pass his degree.” Joseph Anthony Byrd plays the requisite corpse.

The marvelous drawing room with its ﬁreplace, portraits and required fainting couch along with a hilariously unique mantelpiece, nicely lends itself to comic feats. Nigel Hook received both a Tony and Drama Desk Award for his scenic design efforts.

The production thoroughly enjoys itself breaking fourth walls and playing with meta theatricality including seeking audience assistance to repair a broken mantelpiece and locate a canine cast member that has disappeared. Matt Harrington as Chris Bean, the pretend director and lead detective, directly addresses the audience and makes some self-deprecating cracks. He queries whether the audience might rather be at “The Lion King” playing next door in the Opera House. A hearty laugh from the house assures otherwise.

Despite its wild success, this show isn’t for everyone. If you’re into farce, it’s for you. If not, you might want to skip it. But judging from the audience’s gut busting laughter at a recent performance, it’s deﬁnitely a crowd pleaser generally speaking. In reality, the production is staged by Matt DiCarlo whom we don’t see onstage. With a running time of two hours and 20 minutes with one 20-minute intermission, it could work shorter. The play premiered in 2012 as a one act and was later reimagined as two acts with an intermission. That much farce leads to some of the gags feeling repetitive, but when the physical comedy works, it’s terriﬁc.