The Play That Goes Wrong

What joy to sit in a theatre and laugh from start to finish. This is the pure heart of comedy, the art of slapstick raised to the heights of balletic and a respectful nod to the art of farce. Of course all this comes wrapped in a blanket of soothing nostalgia, looking at an age when stage craft was king and technology was something that you read about in boys’ comics.

Even before the play within the play starts the antics of the stage crew are setting you up for an evening of physical and visual gags on a set that has so so much more to reveal as the evening progresses.

And all this before you are treated to the sheer lunacy of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and their thespian endeavours. The arrogant despair of the director and lead actor, the delightful mugging of Cecil, the stumbling attempts of Perkins, the pouting sexuality of Florence, the disbelief of Thomas, a stage manager with attention problems and a lost Duran Duran box set, a stage hand thrown into the drama who becomes stage struck and a corpse that simply will not die! Yes it’s all in there. This is a cast working perfectly in a great piece of ensemble playing where each role is as important as the next. All for an audience that struggles with the roaring of their own laughter and at the same time a desire not to miss the next hilarious line.

It’s little wonder that this modern comedy has garnered so many awards, all duly deserved for an evening of pure theatrical delight.

Theatre Royal Brighton

29 August

Andrew Kay

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