Currently, there is a deluge of sharp political humor, for good reason. John Oliver. Stephen Colbert. Samantha Bee. Most recently Tina Fey’s sheetcake rant. And on and on. That’s because the target(s) are big, obvious and, well, it’s oh so easy to stick the landing. Still, sometimes I want to laugh out loud without being reminded of the shit show that is our government. When that time arrives (and it is now), head to the Lyceum Theater for The Play That Goes Wrong. It is hilarious from start to finish.
A 2015 Olivier Award winner for Best New Comedy, this play was created by Mischief Theater and is still running in the West End. Like another classic British farce, Noises Off, the hijinks are structured as a play within a play but with character development replaced by nonstop tomfoolery. This time it’s “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” a slightly run down English manor house with a dead body at the top of Act I. Think Agatha Christie meets Monty Python in a bad play performed very badly. If it can go wrong, it does. The audience with whom I saw this play laughed hard and very, very often.
Everyone in the cast is funny with Dave Hearn’s performance as Cecil Haversham my frontrunner for best in show. Nigel Hook deservedly won the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Play. The set not only gives the actors the platform to be hilarious, it sometimes even upstages them as if it were a character unto itself. If you are not a fan of farce, slapstick humor or broad physical comedy, perhaps stay away. If you are, get your tickets and have a great fun night at the theater. Even the Playbill goes wrong. Loved it.
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