Dupont Circle’s Keegan Theatre once again gives us comedic escapism this summer with its staging of “The Play That Goes Wrong”. Similar in slapstick style to Michael Frayn’s classic 1982 British farce “Noises Off” (which Keegan Theatre produced back in July 2024), “The Play That Goes Wrong” features a dilettante theatrical company attempting to stage an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery play while contending with collapsing sets, errant props, feuding actors, missed cues and a multitude of other hilariously funny mishaps.
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields (founders of Mischief Theatre), “The Play That Goes Wrong” was first performed in London’s Old Red Lion Theatre in 2012. It went on to win a 2015 Laurence Olivier Award, has toured the UK, the US and Australia, has run on Broadway for two years, and has inspired several BBC TV series and specials. The plot is relatively simple and, truthfully, ceases to matter as the play progressively unravels: The curtain rises on the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s opening night of “The Murder at Haversham Manor”, a classic Hercule Poirot/Agatha Christie whodunit, except produced with a lot less professionalism. Much hilarity ensues over the course of two acts as cheap sets crumble, props are misplaced, lines are forgotten, bad British accents start slipping and stage managers search for a missing dog while tunes from a misplaced Phil Collins CD box set blare unpredictably over the sound system.
It takes a dynamic cast to handle this much sustained and energetic action. Director Michael Innocenti has done a bang-up job of wrangling Darren Badley (Trevor), Rebecca Ballinger (Dennis), Jimmy Bartlebaugh (Max), Jared H. Graham (Jonathan), Leah Packer (Sandra), Matthew Pauli (Chris), Jackson Saunders (Robert) and Martina Schabron (Annie the stage manager). Without exception, everyone excels at making a series of catastrophic mistakes look utterly professional.
Bring your kids to this one. They’ll love it too. Tickets are available.
