Seán Carey (Jonathan), Edward Howells (Dennis), Leonard Cook (Robert), April Hughes (Sandra) & Tom Babbage (Max). Photo by Robert Day.

Review: The Play That Goes Wrong at Belgrade Theatre

This isn’t a sponsored post.
BrumHour is saw The Play That Goes Wrong at the invitation of Belgrade Theatre.

Review by Julie Wallis twitter.com/NiceNic63

Review: The Play That Goes Wrong at Belgrade Theatre

Director: Sean Turner, Original Director: Mark Bell, Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields

I spent last night at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre as the spectacularly funny The Play That Goes Wrong is playing there all this week until Saturday 18th September.

As always it is breathtakingly funny with lots of physical humour as well as some clever wordplay. Who knew ‘cyanide’ could be that funny? If you’re a fan of comedy and you have yet to see this, I envy you so much because nothing is quite like the first time you see The Play That Goes Wrong and you struggle to breathe due to laughing so hard and so long.

Tom Babbage (Max) and April Hughes (Sandra). Photo by Robert Day.

The basic storyline is an amateur drama group, Cornley Polytechnic are putting on a play. Murder At Haversham Hall. A Mousetrap styled murder mystery. Florence (April Hughes) and Charles Haversham (Seán Carey) have just announced their engagement when the corpse of Charles is discovered. Everyone is a suspect and the heavy snow means the local police inspector (Tom Bulpett) from the village arrives in time to begin investigations just as a second body is discovered.

Meanwhile, Florence is knocked unconscious and a hasty ‘understudy’ in the form of stage manager Annie (Laura Kirman) is substituted with genuinely hilarious consequences.

This is a stellar performance and I loved the entire cast. Maybe it’s because I have missed theatre so very much or maybe it’s just that The Play That Goes Wrong is an amazingly funny, clever and skill packed show with some stunts that make me laugh and wince in equal measure. Or maybe it’s a combination of all of those things plus some.

Seán Carey (Jonathan), Edward Howells (Dennis), Leonard Cook (Robert), April Hughes (Sandra) & Tom Babbage (Max). Photo by Robert Day.

You see, the real magic of this show is…it’s so much greater than the sum of its parts. It’s not just funny, it’s not just brilliant comedy writing, it’s not the constant breaking of the fourth wall or the audience interaction from Trevor (Gabriel Paul) the sound and light guy, it’s so much more.

It’s clever, it’s physical, it’s possibly the funniest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen three times in stage now and I’m booked to see it again in Birmingham next month.

If I gave stars out of five, I’d give The Play That Goes Wrong at least 7/5 maybe even an 8/5 it really is that good.

Do yourself a favour, forget your worries and book tickets to what must be the best comedy theatre you will ever see.

The Play That Goes Wrong is at Belgrade Theatre until Saturday 18th September 2021. This production heads on tour until 27th November 2021. Find out more here: mischiefcomedy.com/theplaythatgoeswrong-uk-tour/uk-tour/tour-dates

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