The Play That Goes Wrong is one of several shows in the “Goes Wrong” series. Other shows include A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and The Goes Wrong Show series.
If you like British humour, this show is for you. If you hate British humour, you still might find it funny.
I am a huge fan of the series and have watched all of the shows multiple times but all on TV. This was my first time seeing one of the shows live, and it was also my first time seeing one of the shows without the original cast.
For those who do not know, the characters are mostly the same in all of the shows in the series, and their behaviors are consistent from show to show. For example, there is a Trevor in every show in the series, and Duran Duran usually comes up. Therefore, the first thing I noticed when I walked into the theatre was the Duran Duran poster up in the sound booth. I loved the attention to detail.
But the detail doesn’t stop there. The Playbill also features the show within the show, The Murder at Haversham Manor, complete with the cast list of the fictional actor characters. You may notice the name Chris Bean all over the credits, and this is also a consistent theme. The detail in the Playbill is so impressive, and it is wonderful how much time they spent thoughtfully creating the program to align with all of the shows. These writers are brilliant.
In my performance, two of the eight characters were played by understudies. Brandon Haagenson covered the role of Chris, and Jemma Jane covered the role of Annie. The other roles were Kolby Kindle as Trevor, Chris French as Jonathan, Brent Bateman as Robert, Trevor Braun as Dennis, Liana Hunt as Sandra, and Adam Petherbridge as Max. Then the play within the play has a full cast list where the actor names are the fictional actor characters listed above. Only a true fan probably understands all of this, but it is very satisfying to a fan to see this detail and consistency from show to show.
If you are on the fence about seeing this show, you can first stream A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and The Goes Wrong Show series. The Goes Wrong Show series is most similar to this play. I know people who do not like this type of humor, and I know people who love it. I love it and enjoyed the show, despite the rude audience. It is a lot of laughs. This is also a show to get to your seat early, as there is some pre-show fun.
I plan to see this show two more times this year: one time at a local production at Seattle Rep and a second time at a local production at Bainbridge Performing Arts. I am excited to see how those local productions compare to this Off-Broadway production. Follow @preview_night on Instagram to be notified of those reviews.
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