Lyndsi LaRose, Adam Hagenbuch and Gabi Manoukian (Photo by Veronica Slavin)
Reviewed by F. Kathleen Foley
Five Star Theatricals in the Scherr Forum Theatre at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center
Thru March 29
RECOMMENDED
John Shartzer, Lyndsi LaRose, Adam Hagenbuch and Mark Gagliardi (Photo b Veronica Slavin)
If slapstick is your thing, then The Play That Goes Wrong, now at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks through March 29, may be exactly your ticket.
For those not in the mood for this broadest of broad comedies, be patient. Once you have achieved the proper mood of loosey-goosey goofiness, you will almost certainly get your fair share of laughs. (The alcohol shots sold in the lobby might help.)
Created and written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre, The Play That Goes Wrong enjoyed a long London run before transferring to Broadway in 2017. It has since moved off-Broadway, where it is still running. The success of that initial show quickly gave rise to Peter Pan Goes Wrong, which also ran in the West End and on Broadway. A BBC series that ran from 2019 to 2021 was another spin-off in this ever-expanding franchise, as are several other Goes Wrong offshoots.
The Play That Goes Wrong follows the misadventures of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, an ill-begotten troupe of theatrical amateurs whose past productions include Two Sisters and The Lion and the Wardrobe. (The budget wouldn’t extend to another sister or a witch.)
Their latest production is The Murder at Haversham Hall, a cheesy British drawing room whodunnit set in the middle of a raging snowstorm. (Paper “snowflakes,” tossed onto the stage at intervals, comically illustrate just how bad this storm is.) Of course, the snowbound manor proves the perfect setting for mystery — and unintentional mayhem.
The action opens with a laughably twitchy corpse (Adam Hagenbuch), who just can’t lie still for the duration of the scene. As other characters file in, they react with histrionic horror. (Abandon subtlety, all ye who enter here). There’s the dead man’s vampy fiancée (Lyndsi LaRose), her domineering brother (Mark Gagliardi), the dead man’s brother (hilariously posturing and gloriously effete John Shartzer), and the estate’s ever faithful butler (Travis Joe Dixon). The local police inspector (Justin Michael Wilcox) manages to battle his way through the blizzard to take on the case, but the storm is getting worse and there may be yet another murder in store.
Not part of the Cornely cast, two stagehand/techies (Timothy Willard and Gabi Manoukian) are reluctantly impressed into service, subbing in as actors when the other performers are systematically knocked unconscious and sidelined.
The comedy is unapologetically lowbrow, predicated on puns, silly mispronunciations, spit takes, and peripatetic props that are never in the right place at the right time (Alex Choate and his assistant Jacob Holcombe did the prop design). The overly repetitive gags and madcap shenanigans sometimes overwhelm, but director Larry Raben keeps the action manically paced and frothy, while the performers, all gifted physical comedians, fling themselves around the stage with pinpoint precision.
Gags built around scenic designer Cody Rutledge’s ingeniously structured set — which includes a rotating bookcase straight out of Young Frankenstein — commences with small mishaps such as a fireplace mantel that won’t stay put, then builds to a collapsing second story that has the actors scrambling up the cantilevered floor like kids on a funhouse slide. By the finale, the entire structure comes crashing down around them, echoing the famous stunt by Buster Keaton in Steamboat Bill, Jr. The set is integral; it’s the standout star of the show. (If he continues on this trajectory, Rutledge, a third-year grad student in lighting and scenic design, has a stellar career in store.)
Maintaining the constant flow of onstage chaos is no mean feat, and the stagehands who keep the machinery humming backstage are included in the curtain call — a sweet nod to the many hands, on stage and off, responsible for this complicated and well-rendered entertainment. The show may not be everyone’s cup of tea but considering the cheers and laughter from the Sunday matinee audience, it succeeds as the purely silly fluff it was always meant to be.
Bank of America Performing Arts Center, Scherr Forum Theatre, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. Fri., 7:30 pm, Sat., 1 and 7:30 pm, Sun., 1 pm; thru March 29. www.5startheatricals.com Running time: two hours and 15 minutes with an intermission.
