Before the play starts the audience see the backstage staff doing last-minute adjustments to the set, including trying to mend a broken mantelpiece and find a dog that has run off. The fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, fresh from such hits as The Lion and The Wardrobe, Cat, and James and the Peach, has received a substantial bequest and is putting on a performance of The Murder at Haversham Manor – a 1920s murder mystery play, similar to The Mousetrap, which has the right number of parts for the members. The script was written by the fictitious Susie H.K. Brideswell. During the performance, a play within a play, a plethora of disasters befall the cast, including doors sticking, props falling from the walls, and floors collapsing. Cast members are seen misplacing props, forgetting lines, missing cues, breaking character, having to drink white spirit instead of whisky, mispronouncing words, stepping on fingers, being hidden in a grandfather clock, and being manhandled off stage, with one cast member being knocked unconscious and her replacement refusing to yield when she returns. The climax is a tribute to a scene in Buster Keaton's film Steamboat Bill, Jr., when virtually the whole of the remaining set collapses.
The play premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London in 2012, moved to Trafalgar Studios in 2013. The play then began a UK tour, following its run at Trafalgar Studios, from January 2014 at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, visiting 17 venues and ending in Darlington in July, prior to the opening at the Duchess Theatre in London. The play then opened at the Duchess Theatre in the West End on 14 September 2014, where it remains and is currently booking until May 2020. The direction is by Mark Bell. The cast included Henry Shields as Chris, Dave Hearn as Max, Rob Falconer as Trevor, Henry Lewis as Robert, Charlie Russell as Sandra, Jonathan Sayer as Dennis, Greg Tannahill as Jonathan, and Nancy Zamit as Annie. Sets are by Nigel Hook and costumes are by Roberto Surace. The play began a second UK tour from January 2017, starting at the Theatre Royal in Bath, ending at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in August. A third UK tour occurred in 2018, ending in October in Poole.
The play opened on Broadway on 2 April 2017, with previews that began on 9 March 2017 at the Lyceum Theatre. The production featured the original London cast, and film director J. J. Abrams made his debut as a theatrical producer. The production closed on 6 January 2019, after 745 regular performances and 27 previews.
The play is touring North America, starting in September 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The original tour cast included Brandon J. Ellis as Trevor, Evan Alexander Smith as Chris, Yaegel T. Welch as Jonathan, Peyton Crim as Robert, Scott Cote as Dennis, Jamie Ann Romero as Sandra, Ned Noyes as Max, and Angela Grovey as Annie. Also on the tour as understudies were Michael Thatcher, Sid Solomon, Blair Baker, and Jacqueline Jarrold.
Off-Broadway (2019)
The Broadway production transferred Off-Broadway to New World Stages on 11 February 2019. As of March 12, production was suspended through June 7, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This suspension has been extended through September 6, 2020.
TV specials
Two television specials, an adaptation of Peter Pan Goes Wrong and a sequel titled A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, aired on BBC One in December 2016 and 2017. A TV series, The Goes Wrong Show, followed in 2019. In December 2019, a full series of "The Goes Wrong Show" was broadcast featuring 6 episodes with the same cast as the other two TV specials. Each episode was said to have received an average of 2.2 million people watching it when broadcast. Following the success of the first series, the BBC commissioned a second series which is scheduled to air later in 2020.
Roles and principal casts
Casts
Characters
Chris Bean, plays Inspector Carter and serves as the show's director, set designer, costume designer, prop maker, box office manager, press & PR person, dramaturgy, voice coach, dialect coach, and fight choreographer and filled in for the role of Mr. Fitzroy during rehearsals
Max Bennett, plays both Cecil Haversham and Arthur the Gardener
Trevor Watson, the lighting and sound operator
Annie Twilloil, the stage manager
Awards and nominations
Original London production
Original Broadway production
Off Broadway production
Reception
The Play That Goes Wrong received positive reviews. Tim Walker of The Telegraph gave it four out of five stars and called it "a great-looking, brilliantly performed piece". The Broadway production of The Play That Goes Wrong won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Play.
International
The Play That Goes Wrong has been translated and licensed for productions in over 30 other countries, namely China, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Greece, Israel, Scandinavia, France, Italy, Iceland, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Turkey, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, South Africa, Slovenia, South Korea, Portugal, Croatia, Russia, India and the Czech Republic.
