Review: The Play that Goes Wrong (Lyric Theatre, HKAPA)
The renowned hit from West End and Broadway has finally come to Hong Kong, and even though it is not the original cast, with the fact that the backstage-farce has a few tiring moments, it is still a laugh-out-loud enjoyable entertainment of pure slapsticks with occasional surprises.
I remember when I first saw the clip of The Play that Goes Wrong segment at the Royal Variety Performance in 2015, I was instantly caught on by it and swore that if I have the chance, I definitely need to see the play at least once.
Noises Off by Michael Frayn is always one of the plays in my top-rank list that I adore with a passion. Frayn’s play is the textbook on how to construct a farce with on-point calculations of the gags and punches due to misunderstandings and miscommunications. It is a perfect showcase of farce writing.
It is unfair to say The Play that Goes Wrong is a lesser form of Noises Off (though Noises Off is thoroughly refined) as they serve two different types of function for the theatre. Noises Off is a play about a play that goes wrong, while The Play that Goes Wrong is a mock-reality-show, showing the audience how a play is going wrong in real time.
It is not totally apples and oranges, but I dare to say that The Play that Goes Wrong is not hugely under the shadows of Noises Off.
In fact, personally, it is more inspired by The 39 Steps or Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville, where mystery plays and theatrical farces merge together for entertainment, and The Play that Goes Wrong definitely sits in this category, not to say it is probably the most radical one among others.
Conceived and written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields (all three performed in the original production as well), The Play that Goes Wrong is best for theatregoers not to know anything about it before you enter the theatre, to get the fullest experience of shocking moments produced by the company.
All you need to know is that Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society has come to Hong Kong to run the mystery play The Murder at Haversham Manor, and the fiasco begins.
Of course, as an informed audience, you know a play is going to go wrong, but you do not know how it is going to go wrong, and that is the point. I have to say, even though I was familiar with some of the farcical tropes in the play, with some really a bit old and tired, I was still surprised and laughed out loud with some of the big and crucial ones. I literally gasped at those parts.
For me, the most memorable moment of the night is when Chris Bean, the producer, director, and actor of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society production of The Murder at Haversham Manor, reacts to the audience.
What is so standing out about The Play that Goes Wrong from Noises Off and The 39 Steps is that, the audience’s reaction is heard and emphasised throughout the whole night. What is so brilliant to me is that the interaction between the actors and the audience is not just a gimmick.
It is not just an acknowledgement of breaking the fourth wall (theoretically, there is no wall in this play but the theatre itself). It even reverses the acknowledgement through having us the audience in the play, so that comedy can be done unexpectedly, as well as to tread the classic fine line between comedy and tragedy.
The Hong Kong cast is absolutely charming. Alastair Kirton as Max is exceptionally brilliant as he channels the nuances of Dave Hearn, the original Max at the West End, in details, yet simultaneously shines with energetic physicality.
Edward Judge as Robert, originally played by Henry Lewis, is not as sultry as Mr Lewis. Still, Mr Judge gives a lovable performance with his tropes being some of the most difficult ones.
And Graeme Rooney as Trevor, the punk Scottish lighting and sound operator, steals the show occasionally with his character’s forgetful minds.
After all, The Play that Goes Wrong was the beginning of the spin-offs sprung within the last few years, with The Comedy About a Bank Robbery as well as Peter Pan Goes Wrong, which I have to say, the concept of these two are much more advanced. Still, it is good to see the origin of the phenomenon. Though it is not a totally refined show, it is definitely a farce to remember!
Production Information:
The Play that Goes Wrong at Lyric Theatre, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts
A Lunchbox Theatrical Productions & ABA International Touring
Through 24th September 2017
Tickets: HKTicketing
Originally published at The Typewriter.
