Review: The Play That Goes Wrong at the Old Red Lion Theatre

The Play That Goes Wrong
Old Red Lion Theatre
Reviewed on Thursday 14th March 2013 (Press Night)

The Play That Goes Wrong certainly does go wrong, in the most comical and excellent way. The play has been brilliantly written by three members of the cast: Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, and this production has been wonderfully directed by Mark Bell. The play is about amateur production of 1920s whodunit ‘Murder at Haversham Manor’that goes horribly wrong.

The cast are strong and clearly work amazingly well together as a company. The set it simple consisting of just two walls and a door which create a living room and falls apart in front of your eyes. The lines went wrong, cues were late or changed and props were lost or misplaced - it was absolutely hilarious! It is an actor's worst nightmare!

The cast are very slick and on the ball at all times, keeping the audience at ease during such a surprising piece of theatre. At times I was worried for a moment that the play may actually have been going wrong, it is very clever and keeps the audience in complete suspense. The roars of laughter from the audience certainly reflected the energy the cast were giving off and the atmosphere was electric for the full hour.

A stand out performance came from Henry Shields who played Chris the detective. This character was quite straight throughout and I felt myself drawn to him as the mistakes of the other characters in the play affected him hugely. The final straw came when his prop had been moved: a letter which was meant to be on the sofa. With no other way of carrying on he simply wailed his script line out “A letter! A letter!” over and over again, in some hope a technical member of the stage team would appear with it for him to carry on. This was such a superb moment.

Dave Hearn, who played the character Max, gave us such brilliant comical moments as he continually used exaggerated hand and body movements throughout the play. At times the character Max would look to the audience and indulge in their laughter at the play going wrong - which the audience loved!

My highlight of the evening was when Annie, played by Nancy Wallinger, appeared on stage. In the world of the play she was one of the technical stage team members and Nancy portrayed her superbly. The character reappeared on stage as a replacement for the character Sandra, who had been dragged off after being accidently knocked out. Without spoiling too much, this added to the fantastic elements of a play going wrong in front of your eyes! Following that moment the audience was brought to a soaring roar of constant laughter and cheer!

Quite simply this was a great comedy. I would highly recommend you to see this piece set in the lovely Old Red Lion Theatre. Have a few drinks and have a laugh with your friends and family.

Reviewed by Deborah Hargreaves
contact@westendframe.com

Please visit www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk for further information and to book tickets.

Keep up to date with the latest theatre news, reviews & interviews on Twitter: @West_End_Frame