The Play That Goes Wrong,Theatre Royal Nottingham Review

Reviewed by Nigel Chester

It’s always a pleasure to be attending the Theatre Royal Nottingham, and even more so following the Covid 19 pandemic of the past eighteen months.

The Theatre Royal, is a great theatre, but as this was our first post-covid outing, we were intrigued as to how they would deal with the necessary changes and safeguards and whether our experience would be markedly different. The first noticeable change was receiving E-tickets which could be shown on a smart phone or device, or for the old-school, printed out. The recommendation for the wearing of masks seemed sensible, and there were a range of options for refunds or exchange of tickets at short notice, should the need arise.

Parking in Nottingham isn’t difficult with on-street parking and car parks available in close proximity to the theatre, and also some of the best transport links in the country. Bars and restaurants are plentiful around the theatre, but the theatre bar has a good range of drinks and food available.

We were comfortably seated to watch the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society presentation of “Murder at Haversham Manor” a 1920s murder mystery, following their critically acclaimed performance of James, where’s your Peach; this is “The Play That Goes Wrong” a somewhat misleading title, as everything about this production goes absolutely perfectly. You have to be truly good to be this bad. Timing and delivery are nothing short of comic genius. this brilliantly scripted farce takes improbability and exaggeration to a whole new level.

Somewhat like A Midsummer Nights Dream, this is a play within a play, a literary device used for centuries, but it is bang up to date in the The Play That Goes Wrong, for me the lines are blurred between the two plays.

Sean Carey, playing Jonathan, playing Charles Haversham, opened the play – or did he? Gabriel Paul, playing Trevor, had no part to play in the murder at Haversham Manor, or did he? My head was spinning from the sheer brilliance of comedy.

We were treated in turn, to script failures, prop malfunctions on a major scale, the dog, reported missing before the performance began, failed to reappear but effectively still played its part in the performance. Murders, intrigue, fraud, affairs, deception and un-murders all played to the farcical finale.

The set design by Nigel Hook was brilliant, but must have been a nightmare to ensure that its operation ensured the safety of the cast.

It all felt very British, the sort of comedy akin to panto and at one point I really did find myself shouting “Oh yes it is” it was honed to perfection by Mischief Theatre, the group, formed in 2008 by a group of acting graduates of LAMDA which began as an improvised comedy group and has now gone global.

This wasn’t our first experience of Mischief, having previously seen The Comedy About A Bank Robbery and we knew that a fun, frolicking, fast paced evenings entertainment awaited us. Its laugh out loud funny.

If you get the chance to see this amazing performance, take the opportunity, you will not regret it.

Rating: 5/5

The Play That Goes Wrong is at the Theatre Royal Nottingham from 25 – 28 August 2021.

Tickets are priced from £15.50 – £37.50, no additional transaction fee.

For more information or to book tickets https://trch.co.uk/the-play-that-goes-wrong-2021/#book or call;
Box office 0115 989 5555

Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 5ND