Henry Lewis

‘Wrong’ goes right at the IRT

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By John Lyle Belden

One of the great ironic tricks of theatre is that it takes true professionals to portray clumsy amateurs in a way that delivers side-splitting comedy. This we get from Indiana Repertory Theatre with “The Play That Goes Wrong.”

This was a U.K. and Broadway hit by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer, who apparently spend their time in London making other stage genres and classic stories “go wrong.” The script invokes the spirit of Murphy’s Law, in that practically every prop will break or fail and every conceivable mistake can and will be made – combined with a determined “the show must go on” attitude.

This appears to be the Indianapolis premiere, though there were productions last year in Bloomington and Carmel (we reviewed those as well, in case this looks familiar).

To ensure that everything goes perfectly catastrophic, the IRT Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director, Benjamin Hanna, directs. The cast includes a couple of the players from last autumn’s “Spelling Bee,” Brent Mutter and Dominque Lawson, and two local masters of physical comedy, Rob Johansen and Claire Wilcher.

The play takes place in England at the Cornley Drama Society’s opening night of “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” The whodunit’s director (Eric Sharp), who also plays the detective, is grateful to finally get a production under way with a full cast, once the technical director Trevor (Ryan Hallahan) and stage manager Annie (China Brickey) are set. The mystery starts from opening curtain with the victim Charles (Johansen) lying on a chaise at center stage. Entering, despite a stuck door, are his best friend Thomas (Mutter), his brother Cecil (Lawson), fiancé Florence (Sarah Coakley Price), and the butler Perkins (Wilcher). Was this murder? Detective Carter arrives to determine it was, and everyone is a suspect.

Of course, this Agatha Christie-style story is constantly upstaged by things falling and failing all over the place, nothing where it’s supposed to be, and cleaning fluid in place of the stage-whiskey. Add to this some superb bad acting, such as Lawson’s comically broad gestures resembling bad attempts at sign language, or Wilcher’s need to have key words written on her hand – and always mispronounced.

Things get even more bizarre when Florence is accidentally knocked out and Annie, script in hand, must immediately take her place, going about as well as you’d expect. Eventually, Price and Brickey are two concussed, dueling Florences fighting for the spotlight.

Throughout, this is a masterpiece of mayhem. The non-stop hilarity surpasses even favorite farces like “Noises Off,” with chaos comparable to Monty Python or The Marx Brothers at their manic best.

Credit goes to Christopher and Justin Swader for the hilariously hazardous stage design.

“The Play That Goes Wrong” runs through May 11 on the mainstage at IRT, 140 W. Washington St., in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at irtlive.com.

Going ‘Wrong’ goes right in Carmel

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By John Lyle Belden

Wendy and I saw two different productions of “The Play That Goes Wrong” this past weekend, and from what we witnessed we would like to make this point: All of the mishaps involved throughout the show are meant to be there. You are not witnessing a very poor performance. Laugh along and enjoy all of the goofiness. Do NOT leave at intermission! That said, let’s get to the actual review. I am reviewing the production by Carmel Apprentice Theatre at (naturally) The Cat.

In a way, this is a perfect show for this company as its productions provide a learning experience for new and out-of-practice theatre folk, mentored by and working with community theatre regulars. Thus, when anything, from a spoken line to a random wall hanging, is dropped, who’s to say that was a mistake? In actuality, we have seen many sharp performances and applause-worthy debuts at their shows, and that tradition continues with this comedy, a directorial debut by Rachael Weyers.

The play is a U.K. and Broadway hit by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer, who apparently spend their time in London making other stage genres and classic stories “go wrong.” The script invokes the spirit of Murphy’s Law, in that practically every conceivable mistake can and will be made.

To set this scene, and provide fair warning, the director (Elijah Baxter) of the play within the play, “Murder at Haversham Manor,” opens with a curtain speech about how this should be better than past low-budget productions. Posters from these sad attempts decorate the production booth at the far-left edge of the stage, where tech director Trevor (Zach Kreinbrink) frets at both the dog Winston (needed for Act Two) and his prized Duran Duran CDs being missing.

Between mishaps – which occur regularly practically from the start – we get a whodunit mystery with the first victim, Charlie (Greg Borgard), lying on the chaise at center stage. He tries in vain to maintain a stiff demeanor as his friend Thomas (Jake Williams), brother Cecil (Tim West), fiancé Florence (Reagan Nagel) and the butler Perkins (Julie Eaton) stomp around, later accompanied by Inspector Carter (Baxter).  Stagehand Annie (Allison Hermann) does what she can to control wayward props and furniture but is soon called into service as Florence when the actress appears to have been knocked out cold.

This farce is “the show must go on” taken to a ridiculous and hilarious extreme. Performances are comic gold all around, including Eaton’s pronunciations of words from her lines she wrote on her hand, West’s mastery of the pratfall and penchant for chewing the scenery when he’s not wrecking it, and the glorious dueling “Florences” as both women feel they should be in the spotlight. Part of the beauty of the show is how the characters trapped within this disaster come to deal with their situation, from moments of cheekiness to resignation.

The CAT worked around both budgetary and geometric limitations of their smallish stage, still managing the main features of the stage set, including a hollow grandfather clock and an unsteady platform representing the manor’s study. It also suits a low-budget community theatre playing a low-budget community drama club to have a woman in pasted-on mustache as the male butler. Through it all, the understanding audience (except for a couple who bolted during intermission, inspiring the top paragraph) seemed to thoroughly enjoy this well-constructed calamity.

There are three more chances to see CAT’s “The Play That Goes Wrong,” Friday through Sunday, March 29-31, at 254 Veterans Way in downtown Carmel. Get tickets at thecat.biz.

And if anyone sees Winston, let them know.

Going ‘Wrong’ goes right in Bloomington

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By Wendy Carson

John and I saw two different productions of “The Play That Goes Wrong” this past weekend, and from what we witnessed we would like to make this point: All of the mishaps involved throughout the show are meant to be there. You are not witnessing a very poor performance. Laugh along and enjoy all of the goofiness. Do NOT leave at intermission! That said, let’s get to the actual review. I am reviewing the production by Constellation Stage and Screen in Bloomington.

The show begins prior to the “actual” start of the play. Two crew members wander through the area, dealing with a door that refuses to stay shut and a mantlepiece that won’t stay in place. An audience member is recruited to assist with the mantlepiece repair and eventually the issue is resolved. The stage is mostly a large room with a second-story “study” visible to the side (which honestly looks a little shaky).

The “director” eventually appears and, once he has found the spotlight, welcomes us all to the performance. He muses about some of their past shows being less than perfect, then announces “The Murder at Haversham Manor” (that is the play within this play, a London West End hit by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer).

Of course, props immediately fall, doors cannot be opened, people keep stepping on the dead man’s hand (causing him to yelp in pain), cues are missed, etc. This is a broad farce and everything that could possibly go wrong does, wherein lies the title and hilarity of the show.

Our cast consists of Jonathon Harris (Bobby Ayala Perez) who portrays the deceased, Charles Haversham. Sandra Wilkinson (Haley Glickman) plays the part of Florence Colleymoore, Charles’s fiancé. Chris Bean (Gavin Douglas) being the aforementioned director as well as Inspector Carter. Max Bennett (Andy McCain) is Cecil Haversham (Charles’s brother) and later reappears as Arthur the Gardener. Dennis Tyde (David Sheehan) as Perkins, the Butler. Robert Grove (Peter Sipla) as Thomas Colleymoore (Florence’s brother). Our crew consists of Stage Manager, Annie Twilloil (Alanna Porter), who also steps in for Florence after Glickman’s character is knocked out, and Trevor Watson (Michael Sheehan) who runs Lighting and Sound.

I know that the cast list is confusing with actors playing actors who are playing parts in a show, but this also adds to the fun. There is some very heavy slapstick comedy with some actors endangered at points during the show. But Fighting and Intimacy Director Leraldo Anzaldue has put this cast through their paces well and nobody actually gets hurt (we hope).

Chad Rabinovitz, the show’s actual director, does an amazing job getting every last drip of hilarity out of his cast while keeping any one of them from upstaging another (a difficult job, given the script).

Each and every member of the cast plays their part immaculately, so it is impossible to single out the talents of each one. However, the constant battle for the part of Florence between Glickman and Porter throughout the second act, as well as everyone’s physical dealings with the collapse of the Study floor (especially Silpa) are highlights of the second act that you really must see. Again, don’t leave at intermission.

The show is spectacularly funny and well worth the drive to Bloomington, playing through April 14 at the Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St. Get info and tickets at seeconstellation.org.