The title is The Play That Goes Wrong, but in truth, considering every aspect of the production it’s The Play That Goes Right. Review by Mike Woody. Show continues at La Comedia Dinner Theatre in Springboro thru September 14
‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ Review by Mike Woody
In ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ any misfortune that could possibly occur does. In the amount of time it takes to read this sentence a piece of the set will have likely fallen apart and the audience will have laughed 2.5 times. Actually a whole 3 times as there are no half chuckles just full on belly laughs. Hilarious moments are frequent causing a fun filled laugh riot from beginning to end.
The plot is a theater group low on budget and talent, stage a murder mystery. However, rather than whodunnit the main question is, What is going to go wrong next? To call it a comedy of errors would be an understatement. It’s a full length blooper reel.
Don’t misunderstand me, the entire cast is excellent. Every mistake they make is as scripted. Both the on stage talent and the behind the scenes crew deserve praise for jobs well done.
No offense to Frankie Breit, but it’s nearly impossible to even look at him without laughing. In a dual role as Cecil Haversham & Arthur the Gardener everything Breit does from waving to the audience, overly dramatic hand gestures, and controlling an imaginary dog (just to name a few) is comedic gold. Over the last twenty years I’ve missed seeing two shows at La Comedia. Regretfully one of which was Children of Eden earlier this season, in which Breit played Noah. Save yourself 40 Days and 40 Nights of grief from missing Breit in The Play That Goes Wrong.
For my own well-being, I’m hesitant to even mention the name Florence Colleymore as those associated with the character tend to lose consciousness. Due to literally unforeseen occurrences, a series of actors….err crew members have to fill the role.Leah Faith Nickel in her return to La Comedia after 23 years, provides big shoes for them to fill.
As much as Montana Iverson pulled heartstrings in GHOST, he hits the funny bone as Thomas Colleymore. Playing a corpse is supposed to be non-eventful but it’s the opposite for Tim Lawrence as Charles Haversham. He’s far from a stiff as the victim of the murder mystery.
Dylan Jackson is a welcome addition to any cast, especially in comedic roles. Jackson plays Inspector Carter, who in addition to solving the murder must also locate a ledger. What’s a murder mystery without a butler? The butler named Perkins, who has trouble with numbers and remembering/pronouncing big words is played by Jimmy Mallas.
A familiar face to those who have frequented La Comedia in recent years, but not from being on stage is John Ray. Among other things he’d make all the announcements and manage the dining room. Making his on stage debut, Ray plays himself…well actually a member of the stage crew named Trevor. If able to take your eyes off the stage for a second or two, look over to Ray as for the entire show he’s ‘on.’ He even ends up becoming part of the action and following the shows theme, hilarity ensues. If you think Ray was good at telling about upcoming productions you haven’t seen nothing yet.
It’s also the debut of Lauren Ping as Annie, another stage hand who is forced into taking center stage. Losing her spot in reading the script becomes the least of her problems, but the laughs only keep getting bigger.
The entire cast displays many types of physical comedy and agility. Breit shows off some fancy footwork to answer the phone in a most unconventional way. Iverson and Jackson use balance to save themselves from a steep fall. Nickell and Ping prove themselves to be WWE ready. That’s just a sampling of the physical comedy that ranges from pratfalls to sword fights.
The set itself is a featured player. The entire stage design/construction crew teams deserve accolades. The making of the second level proves to be very impressive and is the source of more hilarity. Almost every inch of the set and items on it is used for a laugh.
Though humor is subjective, everyone should laugh a lot in The Play That Goes Wrong. Anyone who doesn’t, may be more dead than Charles Haversham. I try to avoid confrontations, but would argue that no show (sorry ‘Shear Madness’) has ever been funnier at La Comedia. There’s so many laughs, I didn’t even notice the lack of music, other than some little snippets of Duran Duran. Towards the end of the second act, there’s so much chaos on stage, I didn’t know where to look. I had too many tears in my eyes from laughing so hard to see anyways.
Other than the grandfather clock, the timing for everything in the show is spot on. Credit to Max Bartel, Charmien Byrd, and Justin Reilmann as stage hands. Their work is so vital they are part of the cast list. The importance of set pieces being securely hung gets overlooked, until they fall. A key to comedy is timing, and the timing throughout the show is spot on. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, rather than a second too soon, all due to the stage hands. Timing wise, the only thing that’s off is the settings on the grandfather clock, which is a running gag. One of my favorite lines in the show involves the clock and is delivered by Breit.
Last but not least, I can’t forget the kitchen staff. The food was delicious as always. They even found a way to make the green beans so good that I got a second helping. With buffets my plate normally doesn’t have room for vegetables so two helpings is unheard of.
The title is The Play That Goes Wrong, but in truth, considering every aspect of the production it’s The Play That Goes Right. By being less than perfect, the entire cast and crew excel at making sure everything is perfect. A production has never looked so good at being so bad.
Showtimes: The Play That Goes Wrong
