Everything goes right, as The Play That Goes Wrong opens the Metro Theatre 2024/25 season. Onstage until October 5th, the slapstick farce follows the Cornley Polytechnic Dramatic Society as the amdram club opens their production of The Murder at Haversham Manor.
A long running West End comedy hit is written by; Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer of the Mischief Theatre Company with this Metro Theatre production directed by Mark Carter.
An immersive piece of theatre, the show starts from the first steps into the house, taking our seats the audience can see workers on the stage, tinkering with props and fixing and fixing again the set pieces. Soon realizing that these are players, breaking the 4th wall, the audience is very much a part of the show, playing the part of the audience of The Murder at Haversham Manor.
First we meet the crew, Stage Manager Annie Twilloil (played by Sade Stewart) and Trevor Watson (played by Juan Preciado) on lighting and sound, from the outset they have their work cut out for them as technical ‘glitches’ begin to befall. Cornley Society President Chris Bean (Gareth Phillips) is also director, designer, props manager of their play, in addition to playing Police Inspector Carter within the play. The Cornley players include Andrew Wade as Jonathan Harris who plays Lord Haversham, Rob Fawcett as Robert Grove playing Thomas Collymore, Sean Finnerty as Dennis Tyde playing Perkins the Butler, Diego Arciniega as Max Bennet playing Cecil Haversham and Arthur The Gardener and Jessica O’Gorman as Sandra Wilkinson playing Florence Colleymore Lord Haversham’s fiancée. If you can keep all that in order, it doesn’t matter because it soon all goes wrong. What follows is a fast-paced, farce filled with tongue-twisting dialogue, pratfalls, physical comedy, revolving characters and a calamitous set. The country house set, designed by Glen MacDonald is a creative character all by itself, dazzling the audience with its intricate details and defects.
With the audience rolling in laughter from the ridiculous repartee, the movement and mayhem keep everyone on their toes as The Play That Goes Wrong goes absolutely right for a hilarious theatre experience. Add in a visit to Metro Theatre’s newly redecorated upstairs lounge for a full evening of entertainment.
The Play That Goes Wrong is on stage at Metro Theatre, 1370 SW Marine Drive until October 5, 2024. Visit metrotheatre.com for showtimes and ticket information. Season Tickets for the Metro Theatre 2024/25 Back To The Future Season are also available until October 5th.