By Sandy ThuyAnn Jensen
Audiences who love slapstick humor and are fans of campy outtakes and physical mayhem can’t go wrong with The Play That Goes Wrong showing June 15 – 26 in Bluffdale City Park.
The Play That Goes Wrongwritten by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in 2012 and had five successful tours in the UK and currently runs on Broadway in New York. It is (supposed to be) a murder mystery at Haversham Manor. But there is everything funny about this play. It’s not a thrilling whodunit, but a rousing who will do something crazy next.
I had a chance to see the show in New York on Broadway early in June this year and laughed at the pure joy and mayhem I witnessed on stage. An actor friend told me that The Play That Goes Wrong was opening on June 15 at the Bluffdale City Park. I knew I had to go see it again. I thought it was sure to be a gut buster. And I wasn’t wrong. In fact, I found myself laughing just as hard at this production as I did in New York.
This show is so entertaining, it begins to be funny prior to the curtain. We observed a few of the actors already bantering with the audience, yelling for a missing dog, “Winston!” “Have you seen Winston?” “He was just here a minute ago!”
Jen Spongberg as Annie, the stage manager, is spontaneous and perfect as the dazed stage manager who is overcome with fear of set pieces falling apart and scene changes going awry. She holds her own comedically reacting to all the mishaps. I especially enjoyed a moment when her script is knocked out of her hands and papers are flying everywhere and she has to pick up on the lines of Florence’s character. Her expressions are priceless.
Boston Smith plays Trevor the sound and lighting tech. Smith’s perfect straight characterization of a frustrated sound and lighting guy coming unhinged is reminiscent of some of the techs I’ve worked with in my day. Trevor loses his Duran Duran CD gone missing (like Winston) and flips out. We know we’re watching comedy but Smith nails this role. When Trevor is always on his cell phone and missing cues, this is the essence of true campiness and light humor.
Colin Baker who plays Inspector Carter is brilliant and has great timing and delivery with a consistent British dialect. His interaction with the unwitting audience plays to the humor of the show. His ability to break the fourth wall, which is actually a big no-no in the theater world, is hilarious and the crowd loved it.
Wonderfully castas Charles Harversham, Jordan Reeves’ British accent and clever physicality make it hysterical to watch. He fumbles onstage while trying to stay professional. Reeves embraces the role and tries to ignore the laughter. But does he really? All the actors in the fictitious theater company Cornley University get it? Cornley is Corny?) are dreadful scene-stealing, pander to the audience characters and Reeves sails as Haversham.
Brady Fox’s Cecil Harversham is mesmerizing with his facial expression and stares. Whenever his character does anything the audience clapped at, he paused, milk the moment, and as we laughed even harder, on he goes. It was like watching a five-year-old being proud of his accomplishment when he learns to tie his shoes. He also plays the cheeky gardener who, when his sideburns fall off, switches sides so we could see the side with the one sideburn, my friend about had a heart attack with a laughing fit. We love this character and what B. Fox does with it.
Spence Fox as Thomas Colleymore is agile, quick-witted and on point with this role. S. Fox delightfully improvises with the audience. When we laughed, he hissed, “Stop laughing!” Did we stop? No. How could we? This bit is especially humorous for the kids in the audience. Audience participation always gets the crowd going and this certainly is the moment we all feel like we’re part of the show.
Florence Colleymore is perfectly sweet and her ability to lay still and play an unconscious Florence was hysterical. Charity Checkett works this role with such precision; we are rooting for her, “Stay down, Florence. Stay down!” Arms flailing and legs dangling as the stage crew and other characters try to pull her through the window; Checkett plays the rag doll with precision and humor. The roar of laughter from the audience made it so enjoyable to watch.
Jonah Elsberry as Perkin the butler is absolutely quirky with his embarrassed, often worried looks. He shows us how uncomfortable it is to see everything going wrong. Trying to keep a stiff upper lip is difficult, but Elsberry soldiers on as Perkin, which makes him a sympathetic character, but then? Well, see the show. You’ll see he has a trick or two up his sleeve.
Rounding out the cast as Stage crew are Russ Troester, Deanna Brady, Salem Checkett who make each scene with backstage failures an added bonus. It is priceless to see their facial expressions when they were caught on scenes. (You can catch Troester as Robert on Friday, June 23.)
The impressive set was cleverly built by Kelly Checkett. The set design for The Play That Goes Wrong is always the same, and K. Checkett, with the help of Director Julie Fox and Chelsea Ottoman, creates it perfectly. I was impressed with how the second floor operated for the visual and physical effects. So as to not give spoilers about the show, trust me when I say that it takes everything right to make everything go wrong onstage.
Director J. Fox caught the imagination of the original writers and cleverly cast actors who adeptly play the over-acting, sassy, often obnoxious roles in The Play That Goes Wrong, and deliciously rivals the expertise I witnessed in New York. She takes the audience on a journey of missteps of what can happen when a play goes terribly wrong, which all actors and crew always secretly fear. But you won’t fear this show. Come and join the fun!
Bluffdale Arts Advisory Board production of The Play That Goes Wrong is definitely a family friend production and you get complimentary popcorn and hot chocolate or snow cones with a million laughs! Don’t miss it! You have until June 26 to catch the madness, mayhem and milking of laughs!
Bluffdale Arts Advisory Board presents The Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields.
Bluffdale City Park, 2222 West 14400 South, Bluffdale, 84065.
Thursdays through Saturdays and Mondays at 8:00 PM through June 26, 2023.
Admission is free.
Contact: 801-254-7728
Bluffdale Arts Advisory Board Facebook Page
It’s important to note this show is outside, so come prepared for the weather. It is family friendly.
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