The Broadway hit comedy The Play That Goes Wrong is now onstage at The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival until June 16, 2024. 

 

The Play That Goes Wrong is described as a murder mystery performed by a small, rather negligent, theatre company which endeavors to present a legitimate drama, but goes very, very wrong at every turn. The actors are prone to assorted evils, including doors which cannot open, actors being accidentally knocked unconscious, actors hidden in grandfather clocks, props falling, lines forgotten, words mispronounced, and an entire second floor collapsing, among a host of other calamities. All of this occurs as the actors try to keep a stiff upper lip, which adds to the hilarity. 

 

The accomplished (and no doubt bruised) cast are in real life among the most respected stage and media actors in the profession. Scott Greer, Anthony Lawton, and Ian Merrill Peakes are no strangers to Philadelphia audiences, with all three gentlemen having distinguished, decades-long careers. They are abetted by a noteworthy cast which includes Sean Close, Melanie Cotton, Justin Jain, Eli Lynn, and Karen Peakes. 

 

The Play That Goes Wrong first appeared on the London stage in 2012, achieving great success there. It was later brought to Broadway in 2017, where its fame was phenomenal. It has never left the public sphere as this production from the 1812 Theatre Company of Philadelphia attests. 

 

The audience at this matinee performance had a mix of seasoned theatre-goers as well as the very young, especially very young females, who from almost the get-go screamed, guffawed, and laughed loudly throughout the play, seemingly about every two minutes. The most hoary, banal, cliche-burdened puns received uproarious acclaim from these incandescent youths, which brought their elders along for the ride. Favorite lines included when the fourth-wall was erased, and the actor asked where the ledger was hidden. A voice from the audience shouted, “Under the chair!” Which brought the hilarious reply, “Chair? What chair? There is no chair here! Only a chaise longue!” At least one of us thought that hilarious. Unfortunately, that fellow became preoccupied by the thought, “Is it a chaise longue, or a Recamier?”

 

The Play That Goes Wrong is played in a beautiful theatre (with excellent sight-lines) called the Main Stage at The Labuda Performing Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University in bucolic, splendid Center Valley, PA.

Rush, but don’t trip and fall, to see it.

 

There are many other offerings from The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s season. The aforementioned Scott Greer, for example, appears as Sir John Falstaff in the production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. For information, and tickets, either call 610-282-WILL, or 

visit www.pashakespeare.org .