Mischief Theatre


Mischief Theatre, also fictitiously known as The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, is a British theatre company specialising in comedy. The company was founded in 2008 by a group of students from The London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art in West London. Since its inception the company has performed scripted and improvised comedy in the West End, across the UK, and in Europe and Asia.

Ensemble

Mischief Theatre's ensemble members are: Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Dave Hearn, Harry Kershaw, Charlie Russell, Josh Elliott, Mike Bodie, Nancy Wallinger, Henry Shields, Niall Ransome, Bryony Corrigan and Rob Falconer.
The company is led by Artistic Director Henry Lewis and Company Director Jonathan Sayer.

History

Mischief Theatre performed their first show Let's See What Happens on Tuesday 15 July 2008 at The Questors Studio Theatre in Ealing. Let's See What Happens ran at The Questors Theatre for a week before it moved to The Edinburgh Festival the following month. Since then Mischief Theatre has produced three more of its own improvised shows: Lights! Camera! Improvise!, Late Night Impro Fight and Improvaganza and scripted shows including; The Murder Before Christmas, Mogic and The Buffoons.
On 1 April 2020, Mischief Theatre began the weekly podcast "Mischief Makers", which focused on the members of Mischief.

Notable productions

''The Play That Goes Wrong''

The Play That Goes Wrong is a play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields. It premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London in 2012, moved to Trafalgar Studios in 2013, toured the UK and internationally in 2014 and opened to the Duchess Theatre in the West End on 14 September 2014. In the play The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempt to put on a 1920s murder mystery, but the performance is beset with disasters and the accident prone cast struggle through every scene.
It won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards and Best New Comedy at the WhatsOnStage.com Awards in 2014
Its run in London's West End at the Duchess Theatre was extended until November 2020.
Foreign language productions of The Play that Goes Wrong have also been presented in France, Israel, Finland, Italy, Belgium and Russia.
Productions were due to open in China, United States, Australia, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Greece, Israel, Scandinavia, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, Uruguay, Turkey, New Zealand, Singapore, Philippines and South Africa.

''The Comedy About a Bank Robbery''

The Comedy About a Bank Robbery is a comedy play, written by Lewis, Sayer and Shields. The play opened at the West End's Criterion Theatre on 31 March 2016, with an official opening night on 21 April 2016. The show is currently booking until November 2020.
Original cast included: Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer, Nancy Zamit, Dave Hearn, Charlie Russell, Greg Tannahill, Jeremy Lloyd and Chris Leask
The play is directed by Mark Bell, with set design by David Farley and costume design by Roberto Surace.

''Peter Pan Goes Wrong''

Peter Pan Goes Wrong is a comedy play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields in the 'Goes Wrong' range. It premiered at the Pleasance Theatre in London in December 2013 before touring the UK in 2014 and 2015, and in December 2015 it opened at London's Apollo Theatre. Following widespread critical acclaim, Peter Pan Goes Wrong returned to the Apollo Theatre for a limited run from 21 October 2016 – 29 January 2017.
The play is adapted from the original stage play Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie and in it the inept and accident prone Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society set out to present the classic tale of Peter Pan with comical and disastrous results.
The production was nominated for two Off West End Awards for Best Production and Best Ensemble.

''Lights! Camera! Improvise!''

Lights! Camera! Improvise! is an improvised comedy show format devised and performed by Mischief Theatre. The show was first presented at The Edinburgh Festival in August 2009 and has since been performed across the UK and internationally as well as at The Duchess Theatre in the West End.
In the show a film collector named Oscar invites the audience to suggest genres, locations and a title for a film which he then finds in his extensive DVD collection. A company of six or seven performers then improvise a longform narrative based on these ideas under the direction of Oscar.
In 2013 the production won a Spirit of the Fringe Award at Edinburgh Festival.
In 2017 the show, renamed Mischief Movie Night, began a limited run at The Arts Theatre in London's West End.

Vaudeville Theatre residency

In September 2019 Mischief Theatre began a year long residency at the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End, alongside the long-running productions of The Play That Goes Wrong and The Comedy About a Bank Robbery.

''Groan Ups''

Groan Ups was written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, and was the first production of the residency, running from 20 September until 1 December 2019, featuring the original Mischief company and directed by Kirsty Patrick Ward.

''Magic Goes Wrong''

Magic Goes Wrong is a collaboration between the company and Penn & Teller that combines the Goes Wrong formula with actual stage magic. The production began previews 14 December 2019, prior officially opening on 8 January 2020. It has now been extended to run until August 2020.

Television productions

Peter Pan Goes Wrong was adapted for a one-hour television special which was broadcast on 31 December 2016 on BBC One. It featured almost the entire original cast and guest starred David Suchet as the narrator.
On 30 December 2017, A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong aired on BBC One, featuring both Dame Diana Rigg and Sir Derek Jacobi. Following the events of the previous year, the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society have now been blacklisted by the BBC. Determined to get back on the air, they hijack a live broadcast of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The special was watched by a reported audience of 4.61 million.
On 22 February 2019, it was announced the company would create a six-part BBC One series titled The Goes Wrong Show, starring the original cast and creatives behind The Play That Goes Wrong.
Peter Pan Goes Wrong, A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong and The Goes Wrong Show were filmed at dock10 studios.

Awards and nominations

YearAward CeremonyCategoryResult
2016Olivier AwardsBest New Comedy
2020Mousetrap AwardsPower of the Ensemble

YearAward CeremonyCategoryResult
2020Mousetrap AwardsSpectacular Set