It’s a dark, cold winters evening at Haversham Manor.
Outside the study window the “snow” is falling. Inside a murder has taken place, on the chaise lies a dead body….well almost……ok, not even close!
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields who make up the Mischief Theatre Company (need anymore be said?) The Play that Goes Wrong cashes in on that life long human fascination we have with things going wrong, and takes it into the world of theatre and a place where it lives and thrives best, Amateur Theatre and a passionate troupe of well-meaning but not altogether adept actors and backstage crew.
The Cornely Polytechnic (A Technical College, for us South Africans) put on a play every year at varying degrees of success. Last summer they did a certain musical, but had to call it CAT as there just weren’t enough people to play all the roles! This year they have decided to put on a 1920’s murder mystery. Come show time, things are not quite as ready as they should be, but as the saying goes, “the show MUST go on” and boy, does it! No one lives more to the letter of that saying than Amateur Theatre. With loads of passion, less talent and even less skill, the players endeavour to present their play come hell or high water (both of which do, so to speak) with absolute hysterical consequences. With their roots firmly in improvisational theatre The Mischief Theatre Company take things a step further and “exquisitely choreographed Mayhem” as described by The Independent, ensues.
Any show that starts small, transfers to the West End and then proceeds to run for over 1000 performances with no end in sight; appears on the Royal Variety Performance; wins a Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Best New Comedy’ 2015; spawns 2 other hugely successful shows in Peter Pan Goes wrong and The Comedy about a bank robbery and an announcement of a transfer to Broadway in April this year, can only be described as A HIT!
The Play That Goes Wrong has been translated and licensed for productions in over 20 other countries, including China, Greece, Israel, Scandinavia, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Argentina, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and in South Africa to Pieter Toerien who constantly strives to present South African audiences with new, exciting and current shows that audiences around the world are also enjoying.
The play that goes wrong will be directed by our very own king of comedy Alan Commitie, so already it’s in very good hands, with a seriously creme de la creme of comedy greats ensemble, comprising Russell Savadier, Robert Fridjohn, Craig Jackson, Roberto Pombo, Nicole Franco, Louis Viljoen and Sive Gubangxa completing the line-up.
The critics have been universal in their praise for The Play that Goes Wrong, but suffice it to say, Mr Toerien himself said,
“It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen.”
enough said!
The Play That Goes Wrong will start it’s run at The Pieter Toerien Theatre at Montecasino on 24 March and will run till 30 April before moving down to Cape Town from 3 May-17 June at The Theatre on The Bay
The performance runs 2 hours 5 minutes including a 20 minute interval and the recommended age is 8+
Bookings are with Computicket or call our box office on 011 511 1818
Darryl Evans 6 Feb 2017
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