” The Play That Goes Wrong”

[rating=5]If you’re someone who loves slapstick comedy, loved “Lend Me A Tenor” and “Noises Off”, I would have to say, pick up your phone and order your tickets today for the latest part of the Broadway In Chicago season, “The Play That Goes Wrong” now on the stage of the Oriental Theatre. What a hoot! The press notes ask the question, “what would happen if Sherlock Holmes and Monty Python had an illegitimate Broadway baby? I suppose the answer could easily be “The Play That Goes Wrong” would be its name!

The concept of this hilarious evening of theater is a play within a play. We are to bear witness to the directorial debut of the man who also plays the lead (handled with great style by Chris Bean). The play is titled “The Murder at Haversham Manor”. When we first enter the theater, we see a few bumbling stage hands running around and trying to make minor repairs to the set. The sound/lighting booth for the play within a play is just to the right of the stage and is handled by Trevor Watson who appears to be having a boring time of it , while giving us great laughs. Later, he will end up in the play, as will the others we have met before the play begins.

Confused? That is okay, because this play is filled with uncanny situations, missed cues, props disappearing, people being murdered , actors missing lines, actors being knocked out and tech people taking their roles, a corpse who for some reason can’t stay dead- enough?

What this play is, is a romp! Just one laugh after another and as a laugher, I must apologize to those who sat around me, but I could not stop. I almost lost my breath a few times as the play is THAT hysterical. This new theater company trying to do a 1920’s murder mystery finds that everything that can go wrong does. And more!

I will not divulge all of what takes place as I would not want to spoil the theatrical adventure that this play brings to us. I will tell you that there are elevators that stop, walls that move, doors that don’t open, cues that are missed, murders, invisible dogs, actors who take bows in the middle of a scene, props that are not what they should be and roughly two hours and 40 minutes of hysterical laughter put on the stage by a very energetic and agile (to say the least) cast. In addition to Mr. Bean and Mr. Watson, we have the amazingly agile Robert Grove as Thomas Colleymoore, brother of the vivacious Florence (played to perfection by Sandra Wilkinson), who has just become engaged to Charles Halversham, the corpse( Jonathan Harris), Charles has a brother, Cecil ( deftly handled by Max Bennett, who plays to the audience) and it turns out that he has been a “bad boy”. Bennett also comes into the play as the groundskeeper later in Act Two. The man-servant at the manor is Perkins ( an amazing comic touch by Dennis Tyde) and one more, Annie Twillohl as the Stage Manager is a gem!

Written by the members of The mischief Theatre Company “The Play That Goes Wrong”started as a small fringe production ( like off-Broadway” and has been going strong for years. The actual production is directed by Matt DiCarlo and is the perfect evening of entertainment to take your mind off anything that has been bugging you or stressing you out! For two hours and forty minutes, all you will do is laugh. “The Play That Goes Wrong” will continue at The Oriental Theatre located at 24 West Randolph Street thru December 16th ( so you need to hurry) with performances as follows:

Tuesdays  7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays  2 and 7:30 p.m.  ( how can they do two in one day?)

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  2 and 8 p.m. ( again, how can they do two? they are amazing!)

Sundays 2 and 7:30 p.m. (except on the 16th as they will pack up and leave).

To follow them and tell your friends, visit www.BroadwayGoesWrong.com

Tickets range from $25-$98 and are available at any of the Broadway In Chicago box offices, calling 1-800-775-2000 or online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Play That Goes Wrong”