In a week, month, year, world, where everything seems to be perpetually going wrong, the attraction to go and see The Play That Goes Wrong seems unavoidable. I think we have all gone way beyond the fear of tempting fate by asking, what more could possibly go wrong?, as we are repeatedly dealt another perverse hand of fortune. The media who seem to be gleefully embracing their role as harbingers of doom and are now forecasting shortages of meat and heating at Christmas … Stop. Enough. Some escapism is sorely needed and can be provided right here.

The Play That Goes Wrong could not be further from the daily reality of what goes wrong; it is pure, unadulterated, energetic laugh-out-loud fun and mayhem that engages the audience even before the ‘curtains rise.’ There was a sizeable, buzzing audience on opening night; a proper 8–80-year-old mix of family groups, friends and couples. The ‘wrongness’ starts before the play begins by immediately breaking down the fourth wall and incorporating the audience as willing participants in a performance of the play, Murder at Haversham Manor, by Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society.

The play is centred around a classic British Agatha Christie-type stage production, set in a 1930s manor house. We are presented with a dead body on stage in the opening scene; however, the corpse is rather more animated than most teenagers. The physical and verbal humour soon kicks off and the audience are laughing from the start. There are most definitely no awkward “is this meant to be funny or not” moments; laugh out loud as much as you like. It is pure farce. The cleverness of the performance is deceptively underplayed, as with all the comedy greats of this genre, from Buster Keaton to Basil Fawlty. There is not one outstanding performance, as credit must go to the entire cast for their synchronicity, enormous energy and physicality.

The company, referred to as just Mischief, was founded in 2008 by a group of London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art graduates, beginning as an improv group, and soon finding success with their original scripted work. The Play That Goes Wrong has been running in the West End for seven years now and made its way to Broadway. Mischief are also responsible for Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and The Goes Wrong Show, currently in its second series on BBC 1. They have cracked a winning formula here, bringing the age-old art of farce to life, and providing the audience with escapism from the reality of things going wrong in their daily lives.

[Amanda Briggs – October 2021]

The Play that Goes Wrong is currently playing from 5-9 October at the New Victoria theatre in Woking, but if you miss it, then Mischief’s brand new ‘Goes Wrong’ comedy, Magic Goes Wrong is coming to Woking from 2-6 November