The Play That Goes Wrong at Duchess Theatre

What would be the fun in a play that goes to plan? Hardly ever has a disastrous failure caused such riotous laughter.

The Play That Goes Wrong celebrates ten glorious years on the West End, not surprisingly remaining the longest-running comedy in Theatreland.

Born from a bunch of students fresh out of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) living in a two-bed flat in Chiswick, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis and Henry Shields plotted an am-dram company trying to stage a classic murder mystery. The result was an insanely fast-paced slap-stick style comedy that has been leaving audiences in stitches since 2014.

Over the decade, British comedy troupe Mischief have seen this Agatha Christie-style whodunnit grow from a pub-theatre hit to a phenomenal success in over 30 countries. Though maintaining The Play That Goes Wrong as a success in both London and New York is now just another milestone for the Mischief empire, it stands alongside Peter Pan Goes Wrong currently on tour, multiple television specials and BBC spin-offs, The Goes Wrong Show on the small screen, and three additional productions under their belt: The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, Groan Ups, and two collaborations with Penn & Teller, Magic Goes Wrong and Mind Mangler.

The blend of stereotypical detective story characters and meta-performance creates a humorous contrast between exaggerated crime thriller personalities and wannabe serious actors stumbling through a performance that’s doomed from the outset – the serious and stuck-up inspector-cum-director (Daniel Fraser), a vain and fame-loving flirty mistress (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) and a shy and foolish Butler who keeps forgetting his lines (Daniel Anthony).

It could be argued that constructing and performing a play that is rigged to go wrong is harder than with one planned to run smoothly. With sets being assembled, re-touched and falling apart around the actors, there’s genuine danger and talent in avoiding mishaps. The key to this technique involves completely smashing through the fourth wall, which the company amusingly executes through characters such as Trevor (Jordan Akkaya) and Anni (Billie Hamer). This pair, responsible for set and sound systems, would give any Health and Safety Officer a heart attack.

As Sayer pointed out, many real mistakes do occur during performances, but the beauty of this genre lies in how these blunders are usually embraced as just another disaster to add to the ever-growing list.

Although watching characters navigate the chaos on stage is the backbone of this play, the most impressive thing about the production is that it manages to maintain a viable, coherent and unpredictable plot throughout. The cleverness of this concept lies in bringing audiences full circle, leaving them with no clue how they’ve arrived there. This is a technique Mischief have mastered with precision.

Celebrating a decade of success, this production continues to captivate audiences with its ingenious plot and laugh-out-loud moments, cementing its place as a staple in the West End and beyond.

Olivia Gardener
Photos: Matt Crockett

The Play That Goes Wrong is at Duchess Theatre from 11^th September 2024 until 4^th May 2025. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.