The Play That Goes Wrong (NYC)

for a previous production “One of the funniest plays to hit Broadway in many a season…An uproarious madcap farce that leaves no stone unturned in its wildly inventive quest to celebrate the unpredictability of live theater with superbly choreographed ineptitude…The immensely talented troupe, clearly game for anything, are expert improvisers and marvelously adept at physical comedy…You might laugh so hard you’ll hurt yourself, which is not necessarily such a bad thing.” Full Review

for a previous production “From its misprinted title on the Playbill program cover—which appears as if it had been erroneously offset by the printer—to its continual presentation of pratfalls and slapstick gags, ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ is a sheer delight. It should not come as a surprise that three of the eight cast members (Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields) wrote this escapist and frivolous entertainment, which presents a trite murder mystery called ‘The Murder at Haversham Manor.’” Full Review

for a previous production "’The Play That Goes Wrong’ isn't only funny, it is a masterful demonstration of craft. The writing and direction were in the same vein, tying a perfect and complex knot and knowing exactly how to untie everything…I have never laughed more or harder than when seeing ‘The Play That Goes Wrong.’ There were moments in which I couldn't find a moment to get a good breath in because I was too busy laughing." Full Review

for a previous production "I am genuinely worried about audiences who see 'The Play That Goes Wrong,' because it just might be the funniest show they'll ever see...The cast have perfected every bit of timing and dialogue this piece features...It's one of the very few shows I wouldn't mind seeing every night, from every single different seat, just to see everything that happens on stage...All in all, I couldn't recommend seeing this show any more." Full Review

for a previous production “This is a show you can laugh, chuckle, giggle, chortle, snicker, guffaw, hoot, titter, and roar at as a farcical illustration of Murphy's Law...Under Mark Bell's inspired staging, everything works to make it seem like nothing's working, including a truly remarkable set...A good reason the havoc works is the sangfroid with which the...mummers play their idiotic characters...as they advance in perpetual combat with walls, windows, floor boards, pillars, doors, heads, and props.” Full Review

for a previous production “Expect pratfalls galore, sight gags and a set that is timed for disaster by Nigel Hook, who will most definitely be nominated for a Tony Award…This whacked-out company of actors will have you laughing for almost two hours and, though each is superb, another Tony nod will go to Dave Hearn who steals the show just by being so amazingly super hyped to be there…This play may have gone wrong but when it does, it comes out deliriously right." Full Review

for a previous production "'The Play That Goes Wrong' is a nonstop, intensifying rush in which the murder mystery is performed from beginning to end...It is strangely inspiring how this inept but well-meaning troupe keeps plowing through the script. As directed by Mark Bell, all of these obstacles are meticulously staged. The eight performers have individual personalities but come together to form a tight ensemble well-disciplined in the art of being hilariously bad." Full Review

for a previous production "Exquisitely timed, perfectly performed slapstick comedy...Clever as all get-out, without resorting to the kind of visible-seams cleverness that separates slapstick from classic farce, a form I admire but that rarely gets me laughing out loud...There is nothing arch about 'The Play That Goes Wrong,' no in-jokes that only a native Brit could appreciate. It's just damn funny...The real director, Mark Bell, and the rest of the company all deserve the highest praise for this glorious romp!" Full Review

for a previous production "The Laugh-o-Meter that the producers rigged up at the back of the house spontaneously combusted. Or maybe there was no such thing; but if so, they need not replace it. Four minutes in, there’s so much laughter going on that any device set to register it is sure to go bust...What we discover is that what’s hilarious in London is every bit as hilarious across the pond. Which is not, alas, always the case...All told, 'The Play That Goes Wrong' goes uproariously right." Full Review

for a previous production “Fasten your seat belts, audience, this is going to be a hysterical ride…Hearn is one of the great highlights of the production. He’s adorable, executes slapstick like a silent film pro, and responds with uproarious precision…Every move is accompanied by perfectly timed freezes as the cast registers and/or endures one disaster after another. Expressions are priceless…Fights are beautifully choreographed, elaborate pratfalls and saves worthy of Chaplin. Bravo director Bell...Go. It’s a tonic.” Full Review

for a previous production "'The Play That Goes Wrong' features an utterly terrible fictional script executed utterly terribly by a terrible group of fictional actors, enveloped in a real-life brilliant script executed brilliantly by a very real and very brilliant group of actors. You only realize you've been smiling, gasping and laughing for nearly two hours when it comes to not smiling upon your return to the regular world. This is a two-hour explosion of physical comedy, malapropisms, and knockabout satire." Full Review

for a previous production “Until you’ve seen it, you will not imagine how inventive, impulsive, surprising and artful a stellar set like this one can be. Of course a farce needs direction, and Mark Bell has staged it brilliantly, conducting it as though it were a major symphonic work…You will find this delicious piece of merriness a genuine spring tonic. Our British cousins have always favored farce, more than we do over here, and when served up as expertly as this, we can understand why.” Full Review

for a previous production "A hilarious romp about eye-poppingly shoddy theatrics...Since the premise is so thin, I didn’t think Act Two could sustain the same level of mirth, but somehow it did, keeping up a giddily daft 'Carol Burnett Show'-style slapstick throughout. Something as silly as this could only work if it was put together with serious craft, and it was, like a pristinely assembled jigsaw puzzle that, when put together, makes you scream with laughter. Kudos to director Mark Bell." Full Review

for a previous production "No other show gets so much right by getting so much wrong...Anything that can go wrong does go wrong...The ensemble, imported from London and led by co-authors Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, are all adept physical comedians. It takes great actors to look this terrible...Not just the funniest play on Broadway at the moment, but also one that demonstrates that the London fringe can still act as a launch pad to bigger things." Full Review

for a previous production "Some of the most fun I have had in a theater this season -- or any...Some of the gags bring astonished gasps from the audience, which laughs out loud pretty much non-stop...The 'whodunit' pales in comparison to the 'what's-coming-next' in this zany, fun production. 'The Play That Goes Wrong' messes up and is every theater-maker's worst nightmare (in such a delightful way)." Full Review

for a previous production "From the moment this runaway romp takes off, the antics come so fast and furious that I stopped taking notes, I was laughing so hard...Sit back and marvel at the mischief-making of the Mischief Theatre company, whose skills in physical comedy and split-second timing are impeccable...We should be thanking them for crossing the pond and brilliantly performing the genre that’s hardest to do well in the theatre – namely, farce." Full Review

for a previous production "This production takes metatheatricality to an entirely new level...Throughout it all the entire audience could not stop laughing...More than most shows, this was absolutely an ensemble piece, and every member of the acting and creative team is deserving of praise...The comedy, stage magic, and physicality of this show was impeccably timed and shockingly precise...Without a doubt, 'The Play That Goes Wrong' is the funniest play Broadway has ever seen." Full Review

for a previous production "An uproarious theatrical experience unlike any other – and one that will have you laughing until your sides ache...Each cast member performs with unique comic flair...One thing is certain: 'The Play That Goes Wrong' will have you laughing nonstop from the first moment to the last. 'The Murder at Haversham Manor' may be a disaster, but 'The Play That Goes Wrong' is a brilliant success." Full Review

for a previous production "'The Play that Goes Wrong' goes very right and went very well...Hilarious? Oh, yes. A wonderful farce full of non-stop laughs, very funny and smart...To pull this off you have to be great, and you can see that this troupe—which wrote the show for themselves—has honed it into a gem...Director Mark Bell makes it look easy when of course it’s not—indeed, the physicality that’s called on is quite amazing." Full Review

for a previous production "For sheer fun and laughter, you’re 100% right in choosing the hilarious 'The Play That Goes Wrong'...While the supremely talent cast delivers farcical slapstick performances...the biggest kudos go to the scenic and lighting designers who create the visual mayhem...It’s cleverly scripted by twentysomethings Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields and adroitly directed by Mark Bell with utmost precision." Full Review

for a previous production "This show within a show keeps audiences on both sides of the Atlantic laughing non-stop. Mangled lines and dozens of missed cues and bungled entrances all contribute to a surreal atmosphere of a not quite ready for prime-time production...In my review of two years ago, I summed up the evening saying, 'Never have so many laughed so hard for so long.' Fortunately for theatregoers, even with a few nods to the play’s American audience, that still holds true." Full Review

for a previous production "The delightfully entertaining farce is easily the funniest play I’ve ever seen. At times, I was crying laughing so hard...The ensemble is wonderful. They shed their egos and fully throw themselves into the often violent and never-ending intense physical comedy with masterful fervor...I spent the entire evening in the strange, beautiful no-man’s-land between giggling and full, open-throated, guttural, screaming laughter." Full Review

for a previous production "Under Mark Bell’s direction, the ensemble cast delivers a high-energy, brilliantly acted farce that celebrates the magic of the theatre by highlighting its foibles—a resplendent conception concocted by writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields...A gift to audience members: two hours to let their guard down and allow themselves to laugh again...Your brain will thank you for the resplendent release of endorphins and the boost in happiness and well-being." Full Review

for a previous production "Go see this play. There is NOTHING wrong with 'The Play That Goes Wrong.' Unless you've got something against laughing...My only quibbles with this production are that the last ten minutes or so happen so fast with so much falling apart on the stage that the intricate and hilarious story dissolves, along with everything else, before our eyes. What should have been fireworks is more like a fizzle...Nevertheless–get thee thither. Trust me. You need this much laughing." Full Review

for a previous production "Finds the line that separates the annoying and stupid from the I-can’t-believe-I’m-laughing-at-this brilliance. And when the company hits that line, which it does over and over, resistance is ultimately futile...Although Mark Bell is the real director, he should get a special Tony for best choreography in a nonmusical. The physical comedy demands stopwatch precision to make the cumulative antics, not just pratfalls and spit-takes, work without hurting the real actors." Full Review