The Play That Goes Wrong at HCT

I saw The Play That Goes Wrong at PTC a few years ago and I thought it was one of the funniest shows I've ever seen so I have really been looking forward to HCT's production. I was able to see it yesterday afternoon and I laughed out loud through the whole thing! The Cornley University Drama Society is performing the play The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Bridewell. It stars Chris (Bryan Dayley) as Inspector Carter, Jonathan (David Marsden) as Charles Haversham, Robert (Ben Abbott) as Thomas Colleymoore, Dennis (Jeffrey Whitlock) as Perkins the Butler, Sandra (Erin Royall Carlson) as Florence Colleymoore, and Max (Dan Radford) as Cecil Haversham/ Arthur the Gardner. Annie (Ali Bennett) is the Stage Manager and Trevor (Armando Serrano) is the Sound and Lighting Technician. Literally everything that can go wrong does go wrong with this play including a set that is slowly falling apart (Annie must resort to having an audience member help her construct the mantel before the show begins), misplaced and malfunctioning props, a sound designer who keeps playing Duran Duran instead of the real sound cues, a missing dog (the tech crew was searching the audience frantically for the dog before the show began and during intermission), an actor who cannot stay still while playing a dead body, an actor who cannot remember his lines, an actor who insists on using flamboyant gestures whenever he reads a line, and a leading lady who is injured halfway through the show and must be replaced first with Annie and then Trevor (with scripts in hand). However, the show must go on until the murder is solved (I've seen it twice now and I still don't know who the murderer is because I am always laughing so hard). The physical comedy is absolutely hilarious! My favorite scenes involved a long and drawn out fight between Sandra and Annie for the chance to play Florence, a sword fight between Thomas and Cecil in which the swords are broken, and an awkward kiss between Cecil and Florence (and then with Trevor later in the show). The entire cast is superb with absolutely brilliant comedic timing but my favorite performance was by Radford (he is single cast) as Cecil! I don't know where they found him but everything he does on stage is hysterically funny, especially when he milks the audience for applause! I am almost always impressed by the sets at HCT but this one might be my favorite because it falls apart so spectacularly, especially the second floor study. I highly recommend this show because I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard and I think we can all use a bit of laughter right now! Unfortunately, all shows are currently sold out because of state and county seating limitations but I would keep checking (go here) because more shows could be added during the run which continues through April 3.