The Play That Goes Wrong at Liverpool Empire was a delightfully funny performance - with added cringe.
It tells the story of The Cornley Drama Society who are putting on a 1920s murder mystery ‘Murder at Haversham Manor’. As the name of the play suggests, it doesn’t run as smoothly as they’d hoped and the consequences are utterly hilarious.
Created by Mischief, a British theatre company founded in 2008 by a group of students, The Play That Goes Wrong first premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London in 2012. It’s since been at London’s West End for eight years and is now on its fifth UK tour, arriving at Liverpool Empire last night for its opening night.
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Written by Mischief members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, the show is nothing short of genius. It follows drama society members Trevor (Gabriel Paul), Dennis (Damien James), Robert (Kazeem Tosin Amore), Jonathan (Steve Rostance), Sandra (Aisha Numah), Max (Edi De Melo) and Chris (Harry Boyd) during their shambolic performance.
The very start of the play really sets the tone for the whole show. It begins with the ‘cast members’ of the show frantically scrambling around and asking members of the audience if they’ve “seen a little black dog” who was meant to star in the play.
That, alongside Annie’s understudy (Beth Lilly) who then asks an audience member to help her hold together the set which kept falling off the walls, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. It’s the definition of feel-good slapstick comedy combined with cringeworthy mishaps and actor slip ups.
The terrible fictional script makes the performance even more triggering, enveloped into a real-life brilliant script that's executed perfectly. There’s a real art to the performance, because acting badly is a real skill.
All actors display an undeniable amount of chemistry, particularly Dennis (Damien James) and Chris (Harry Boyd) who play the roles of Perkins and Inspector Carter. Edi De Melo (who plays Max, who plays Cecil Haversham) has a cheeky chappy smile throughout, delivering imperfect lines perfectly.
One element of the play that’s particularly mind blowing are the props. Whether it’s a picture on a wall or a candle holder, they seem to fall down at the perfect moment. Who knew that getting something wrong would be mastered so perfectly?
The Play That Goes Wrong might not be everyone's cup of tea because of its silly slapstick style comedy, but it was most certainly mine. Everything from the comedic timing to the snuffed up lines was ironically spot on.
Get your tickets for The Play That Goes Wrong here. It will be at the Liverpool Empire theatre until Saturday May 28.
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