The Play That Goes Wrong at the SCERA Center for the Performing Arts

I have seen several different productions of The Play That Goes Wrong (PTC, HCT, and CPT) and it has become one of my favorite shows because it is absolutely hilarious! I had the chance to see SCERA's version last night and I don't think I stopped laughing from the first missed cue to the crash of the chandelier at the end! The play-within-a-play is the Cornley University Drama Society's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Bridewell. The cast includes Max (Scott Hendrickson) as Cecil Haversham/ Arthur the Gardener, Chris (Dylan Burningham) as Inspector Carter, Jonathan (David Peterson) as Charles Haversham, Robert (Bryson Smellie) as Thomas Colleymore, Dennis (Samuel Wright) as Perkins the Butler, and Sandra (Eden Bostrom) as Florence Colleymore. The show is directed by Chris with Annie (Shannon Follette) as the Stage Manager and Trevor (Ethan Devey) as the Sound and Lighting Director. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong with this show, including a set that is slowly falling apart, props that either malfunction or go missing, a sound designer who accidentally plays Harry Styles instead of the sound cues, an actor who cannot stay still while playing the murder victim, an actor who cannot remember his lines, an actor who uses flamboyant gestures and then breaks the fourth wall to milk the audience for applause every time he does it, and a leading lady who is injured halfway through the show and must be replaced with two different understudies (with scripts in hand), but the show must go on with hysterical results. The physical comedy in this show is brilliant and my favorite moments were when Thomas must repeatedly drink paint thinner when whiskey cannot be found, when Cecil and Florence have an incredibly awkward kiss, when Cecil and Thomas have to answer the phone while holding the set together, when Cecil and Thomas break the swords they are using during a duel and then pretend to use light sabers (complete with sound effects), when Perkins must finish the show handcuffed to the chaise longue because the prop keys are misplaced, and when Sandra and Annie have a long and drawn out fight over who gets to play Florence. The entire cast is fantastic but the standouts for me are Smellie because he is so completely overwrought and Hendrickson because everything he does made me laugh (particularly whenever he would flash his megawatt smile at the audience). The set is simply amazing because not only does it fall apart spectacularly but it does so on cue (the technical aspects of this show are also quite impressive). The collapse of the second floor study is ingenious! I cannot recommend this show enough because it is so much fun (I was definitely not the only one laughing out loud). It runs through May 6 and tickets may be purchased here.