This isn’t a sponsored post.
BrumHour was invited to see The Play That Goes Wrong by The Alexandra.
For Brum Radio’s Interval Theatre, Steven Rostance spoke about his role in The Play That Goes Wrong. Listen here:
By Becky Kroon twitter.com/BeckyKroon
Review: The Play That Goes Wrong at The Alexandra
Slapstick comedy at its finest!
Written by Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis
Havoc visited The Alexandra last night. Tech issues, missed cues, multiple knockouts and far too many breakages. That’s surely got to mean one thing? Mischief Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong is back on tour to cause more chaos in Brum, and without mentioning any spoilers, it certainly delivered chaos.
Nearly in their tenth year, Mischief Theatre’s absurd, slapstick disaster shows have become internationally recognised, with spin-off shows including Peter Pan Goes Wrong and Magic Gone Wrong as well as premiering their BBC series The Goes Wrong Show in 2020. Directed by Sean Turner, The Play That Goes Wrong follows the journey of “Cornly Polytechnic Drama Society’s” murder mystery performance of “Murder at Haversham Manor“, and the many mishaps the cast and creatives face along the way.
The atmosphere the production creates is immersive from the get-go, with the stage crew interacting with the audience, asking members to help fix set or look for lost props. Immersive details I particularly enjoyed included the fake programme, which includes a witty directors note, a creative team of the same name and a series of mediocre play reviews of past productions from “Cornly Polytechnic“.
The immersion doesn’t stop there, as principal Colin Burnicle (playing Chris) enjoyed breaking the fourth wall on more than one occasion to banter with the audience, especially to roast The Alexandra’s rival theatres in Birmingham such as Birmingham Hippodrome and The Rep. This pantomime-esque humour added a nice layer of authenticity of audience interactions that could come across as mainly scripted.
Again, without making any spoilers, credits go to the cast for making the play fun to funnier. The over the top ‘bad’ acting, excruciating pauses and sheer athleticism in holding the set together created a perfectly executed shambles. With similarities to the likes of The National Theatre’s One Man Two Guvnors and the Carry On films, The Play That Goes Wrong displays slapstick comedy at its finest.
What to expect in an evening watching “Murder at Haversham Manor“? The only thing I can say is not Agatha Christie! The Play That Goes Wrong is at The Alexandra until Saturday 21st May 2022, and it is sure to be full of surprises.
The UK Tour continues until 21st August 2022, see the tour dates here: mischiefcomedy.com/theplaythatgoeswrong-uk-tour/uk-tour/tour-dates. See what is coming up at The Alexandra here: atgtickets.com/venues/the-alexandra-theatre-birmingham
