Everything’s Right with “The Play That Goes Wrong” at Northern Stage
It’s hard for talented actors to act so well as characters who can’t act. That’s what you get from Northern Stage veterans returning to the stage along with some new faces in The Play That Goes Wrong. It’s a play about a play (think Noises Off) in which the cast of the fictitious “Murder at Haversham Manor”—a drama that borrows every old-fashioned murder mystery trope—refuses to cry uncle though they miss their lines, lose their timing, and contend with an unprepared understudy. And that’s only the beginning.
The brilliance of The Play That Goes Wrong is that even as the title clues in the audience that something’s bound to be amiss, viewers can’t begin to imagine the myriad ways a stage production can not just falter, but explode into mayhem. To be sure, there are some continuing gags, like Perkins’s (David Mason) pronunciations and Cecil Haversham (Andrew Gombas) breaking the fourth wall with his eyes. But on the whole, each new crazy challenge for the Haversham Manor cast is unexpected, and those challenges are plentiful and rapid-fire. The intermission will allow you to catch your breath, which you will need as the second act comes roaring back.
It’s not just the robust physical comedy and the craziness per se that brings the laughs. It’s the characters’ perseverance, their enduring hope that somehow they’ll be able to save themselves and the play, that is so laugh-out-loud funny.
And perhaps never has a set been given such a starring role. David Arsenault’s design is purposefully made to go bad, starting with a single door that won’t cooperate. Kudos to those backstage who are pulling the levers that makes that set move with such precision timing, crucial to the “going wrong” that is the center of the play.
This production is a gem and the last in Northern Stage’s regular season. There’s much to appreciate, like the levels of energy and creativity that must have permeated the numerous rehearsals necessary to get everything exactly right. Best of all, it’s pure escapism that delivers more than a few surprises.
The Play That Goes Wrong runs through April 14, 2024 at Northern Stage’s Barrette Center in White River Junction, Vermont.
—————————————————
Thank you! You’re reading Artful, a blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley, and I hope you’ll subscribe (still free) and then share this post with your friends and on your social media.
And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.