Reviewer: Mark DeWolf-Ott
After doing my research before going to the play; I didn’t expect much. I was surprised. I went into the theater with the idea that nothing is as funny as the articles say it is. I thought that I wouldn’t laugh. I was wrong. Many reviews compared the play to skits by Monty Python or maybe even Saturday Night Live. I would also compare it to The Honeymooners, I love Lucy, The Muppets, Adam Sandler, Weird Al Yankovic, and even the Simpsons.
Before the play even begins the cast is in the lobby, in the isles, and on stage looking like they are trying to put on a show. The plot begins with the Cornley Drama Society, a British community theater, attempting to put on the play “The Murder at Haversham Manor”. They are delighted because the number of club members is the same number of characters in the play. Almost. It’s a play within a play. Each cast member has two roles, some three, and they are quite flexible. Literally and figuratively.
And by the title, you can tell things just don’t quite work out as planned.
Directed by veteran director of The Flint Youth Theatre and instructor for the Flint School of Performing Arts, Dominique H. Eisengruber, has done a great job. The audience was totally engaged. They reacted to the overacting of the performers and belly laughing at the appropriate places. The curtain call was greeted with an immediate standing ovation.
“The Play That Goes Wrong” presented by Pit and Balcony Theatre March 15-17 and 22-24 should not be missed. The acting is complicated because they are purposefully trying to do it badly. The set is amazing. It’s mechanical genius that no one gets hurt. The play has won over 12 awards in both London and New York combined.
Featured at Saginaw Art Museum