THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG - Duchess Theatre (18/07/25)

Mischief still cracking us all up a decade later

Ten years after everyone's favourite purpose-built disaster opened in the west end, and it still feels as fresh and fabulously farcical as ever; through what is basically a theatrical interpretation of Murphy's Law, this Olivier and Tony winning play sees Mischief Comedy take a basic concept of a murder mystery, taking the form of a play within a play, and throw in as many potential pitfalls as they possibly can, ranging from the relatable to the riotous to the downright ridiculous; whatever you feel could go wrong in a theatrical production, I guarantee Mischief have got you covered and then some.

There are some of these that you will see coming, others that are completely out of left field, but the hilarity always hits home. What is particularly striking though is the level of control and organisation to be able to pull off this degree of theatrical chaos, as bonkers as it presents itself, one has to give an enormous amount of credit to director Mark Bell, as well as the supremely talented and patient stage management team, for how the show manages to present the illusion of total directorial and creative disharmony so effortlessly.

The company of The Play That Goes Wrong (credit: Matt Crockett)

All the technical mastery aside though, this great British farce is, first and foremost, a fun, witty, and endearingly silly piece of theatre, a delightful cross between Agatha Christie, Charlie Chaplin and Monty Python, with an innate self awareness that only adds to its already considerable comedic chops. There is also an unbridled determination to keep the show going, and more than anything that is what fully sells this piece, in that, regardless of everything that befalls our cast, they soldier on and manage to, against all odds, make it to the end (relatively) unscathed.

The latest motley crew to board the Mischief madness mobile, like with other casts before them, inject something new into the show, and whilst the comedy tropes attached to it are well known to us by now, they still do a marvellous job in retaining its high fandango jollity and wonderful improvisatory qualities, with the various recurring jokes proving particularly effective. Robert Jackson, playing veteran thespian Robert, playing Thomas Collymoore in the murder mystery (they really go all out with the "play within a play" idea), is blessed with real funny bones and terrific comic timing, he sells the bit masterfully and has us in stitches, whilst Charlotte Scott's take on the young floozy is hilariously exaggerated.

Robert Jackson, Jack Hardwick and Miteshi Soni (credit: Matt Crockett)

It takes a lot of skill for a good actor to sell convincing unconvincing acting, which is exactly what Mitesh Soni pulls off remarkably well, we know Dennis' main gimmick is that he isn't the strongest actor in the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, and to be able to not only portray this inexperience, but have the comedy land so masterfully takes an immense amount of talent.

Trying (and failing) to keep proceedings running smoothly was the society's long suffering lighting and sound tech, played in this performance by Kitty Devlin, who clearly relishes in the pandemonium, going from panicked, hysterically times audio mistakes, to clearly enjoying messing with the cast, to the complete sense of indifference towards this pay that is clearly not going well. In many ways she plays the villain, and it's a joy to behold.

So it's fair to say that, a decade on, The Play That Goes Wrong still has everyone rolling in the aisles and choking on their interval ice cream, it is 120 minutes of unbridled silliness and consummate orderly disorder. A couple of the jokes may be a touch over-egged, however the quality of the writing, direction and overall execution is so first rate that you can forgive a joke or two not fully translating, because the vast majority of them land superbly, making for a rip-roaring, knee slapping two hours of chaotic glee.

★★★★☆

"The Play That Goes Wrong" performs at the Duchess Theatre in London's west end, and you can buy tickets here.

{PR/Gifted tickets}