The Play That Goes Wrong’s Mischief Theatre have taken their spoofs of ham-fisted am-dram to the West End, Broadway and television; these shows reward repeat viewings but, sadly, their latest comedy of calamity doesn’t go quite right.
A promising setup juxtaposes the colourful world of children’s entertainment with the entertainers’ messy lives. We are the audience for a TV recording of Wibble the Dragon, set in the fruity fantasy realm of Princess Pineapple and King Lemonhead. Inside his winged costume, Toby (Chris Leask) is in sweat-drenched despair; co-star Elizabeth (Jemma Geanaus) is fretting about her Call the Midwife audition; Wibble’s socially awkward scriptwriter (Harry Kershaw) admires her from afar; and yellow-stockinged Shakespearean warhorse Anthony (Adam Byron) thunders through his scenes “like Gandalf having a wank in a cave” (one of the finest lines).
But the early scenes drag. Neither Wibble’s rhyming dialogue nor the actors’ spats match the zing of Sara Perks’ citrus-inspired set. The show skews darker than previous Mischief comedies: Tom Walker’s character is often just caustic rather than comic, and while there is nothing wrong with rooting farce in real distress, the motives of a surprise visitor (Gareth Tempest) spring from deep personal tragedy that jars. Actors’ precarious careers, already referenced, would equally provide a motor for the plot. You can see a more successful family-friendly version within the play.
Henry Shields and Henry Lewis, both terrifically funny in past Mischief shows, make their debuts as solo writer and director respectively. In the neatly structured script the first scene in the studio is replayed from the perspective of the team in the gallery. A similar approach is used in the second half, although the reveals often crystallise plot points rather than enhance humour. Bryony Corrigan and Greg Tannahill’s characters embody Mischief’s doomed show-must-go-on spirit, the latter with an extended bit of trouserless clowning that finally provides the delirious physical comedy you’d expect.
The Wibble company’s commitment to keep going might be heightened were the TV show going out live, and you wonder why 300 toddlers would be at a filming after 8pm. When Toby confuses his consonants in an X-rated version of the line “ducks off sick”, it’s supposed to be mortifyingly inappropriate, but others freely eff and blind in front of the kids anyway. Still, no quibbles about Wibble’s design – Perks’s fairytale costumes are a delight, not least that shabby, pear-shaped dragon suit with its sadly swinging tail.
At the Mercury theatre, Colchester, until 15 October. Then at Salisbury Playhouse, 18 October–5 November, and Yvonne Arnaud theatre, Guildford, 8-12 November.
