Saturday night's production of The Play That Goes Wrong did all the right things at the Medicine Hat Musical Theatre playhouse.--News Photo Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
The Play That Goes Wrong, as presented by Medicine Hat Musical Theatre, proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that even when attempting to play at mediocrity, true talent shines through.
The story itself follows an amateur acting troupe throughout a true disaster of their presentation of “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” which has more than its fair share of issues. The leading lady is swiftly struck unconscious, the butler cannot pronounce a variety of words written on his hand and the victim in question repeatedly breaks what should be a simple character.
But through these blunders, the actual actors’ skill truly shines as they manage to make the scripted errors both realistic and deeply comedic in a way that reminds you of their true calibre as a cast.
From Kevin Monson’s deliberately extreme delivery of Cecil Haversham’s lines during moments of emotion, to the ongoing muttered demands of the impromptu replacements of Sarah Laitmer’s Florence Colleymoore to “have an episode,” the show manages to capture a very real essence of theatre life.
Those familiar with putting on a production in any capacity will certainly have a sense of being in on the joke, but even those wholly unfamiliar with the dramatic arts will surely be left in stitches from the moment they sit down to the moment they leave.
The set is almost a character within itself, a marvel of theatre magic that almost seems to have a sense of humour of its own, as if the very environment was choosing the best moment to have various malfunctions, or have a prop be mysteriously missing from where it ought to be.
This feeling of mischief,however, gave way to wonder as the play went on, unable to tell how, precisely, these effects were pulled off safely, much less night after night. Having a tour of the mechanisms that made this possible after the performance did nothing to dispel the sense of wonder.
Everything within the theatre was masterfully planned to sell the illusion presented in the expertly crafted playbill, which tells a story of a clerical error allowing the Cornley Drama Society to come to the Playhouse Stage. Before the show and during the intermission, fictional cast and crew mill about on stage and in the house with a series of scripted bits, and Steve Krysak’s Trevor sits off to one side, mismanaging the light and sound cues for the entirety of the performance.
As David Jeffery’s first foray into directing, the Play That Goes Wrong was an ambitious choice that has paid off in spades, as the sold-out comedy of errors is time, money and occasionally sympathetic stress well spent, and the audience is compelled to feel for the performers just trying to tell their “whodunnit.”
If there is a single complaint to be made, it is that they were unable to locate Winston the dog for his role as a guard dog, who perhaps falsely was promised to be the “only good part of Act Two.”
The show continues with six more 8 p.m. performances: Feb. 27 and 28, and March 1, 6, 7 and 8.
