Writing for The Stag can be a quiet, exciting, individual or inspiring experience. The act itself is rewarding - but sometimes even larger encouragement comes our way. In the privilege of our position, we are early to receive information and offers from press lists for theatre and music. This time around, it was our great pleasure to experience The Play That Goes Wrong, currently showing at the Duchess Theatre in London. Our Editor-in-Chief, Luka Dehnbostel, was even able to interview a member of the cast!

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The Play That Goes Wrong is exactly what the name suggests; a catastrophic rendition of 'The Murder at Haversham Manor’ - a murder mystery set in the 1920s - performed by the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society - both of which being fictions created for the play by the excellent team at the Mischief Theatre Company.

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Since opening in 2012, it has had audiences in stitches across the UK, US and Australia, with numerous spin-offs following the disastrous attempts of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society to put on future productions of iconic novels.

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The experience begins from the moment you arrive in the theatre - with stage crew working on the set as the audience file into their seats. A particular highlight is Trevor (Tomisin Ajani), who goes on to have more of a starring role in the play than anyone expected.

 

The play opens with a monologue by Chris Bean (at our performance, played by understudy Jack Whittle, a graduate of the Guildford School of Acting). He is thrilled to introduce his directorial debut, in which he also plays the Inspector.

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After that, to put it simply: the play goes wrong. Actor injuries, costume malfunctions, prop disappearances and script mistakes pile up as the drama society try desperately to keep the show running. It takes skill to write and perform something that looks so intentionally un-rehearsed, and the set-up of every joke pays off down the line. From slapstick moments to feeling genuine concern for the actors (how can they perform some of the stunts so effortlessly?!), it really is a triumph. By the end of Act One it feels like all is lost - but somehow it's topped by Act Two, as it sinks into further chaos, leading to a disastrous (but hilarious) finale.

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We both had a brilliant time - and it's such a privilege of our position to be able to bring you an interview with Jack Whittle, who played the lead role of Chris Bean:

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Has anything ever actually gone wrong in The Play That Goes Wrong?

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Funnily enough, yes! The magic of live theatre almost guarantees unexpected twists. Luckily, the play itself consists of the actors thinking on our feet and worming ourselves out of any tricky situations - so we are very used to it!

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One of the most enjoyable real ‘Goes Wrong’ moments is when audience members try to shout advice to the actors. When this happens, they WILL feel the wrath of the lead actor in the play, slamming their theatre etiquette.

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What are your favourite and least favourite parts of the play?

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My favourite part of the play is the very opening of the play. We see the director, Chris Bean, excitedly introducing the play to the audience, while also letting slip that previous productions have been quite problematic. It shows the best of Chris while giving him so far to fall throughout the play.

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My least favourite part of the play is just how much I sweat from running around on stage for 2 hours. The whole show is an impressive feat of physical comedy and it shows!

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What is something you'd like the students at the University of Surrey to know about the play?

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Everyone should know that the play is filled with laughter from start to finish.

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The characters from the show are putting on a student, amateur production, so the jokes and the ‘Goes Wrong’ moments are incredibly relatable - I can guarantee you will have seen at least one thing happen for real in a student production!

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If this review has tempted you enough to check the show out for yourself, be sure to check it out soon! If you're a student, you can get tickets for £13, every Wednesday night until 29 March 2023, using the promo code UNLUCKY13 (excluding 15th and 22 February).

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What better to do on our Wednesday afternoons off?!

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