4 min read
The Play That Goes Wrong
Mischief’s Olivier award-winning box office hit, The Play That Goes Wrong, is the West End’s longest running comedy, and has fast become a global phenomenon with productions across every continent (except Antarctica, where a frosty reception was predicted!)
We spoke to one of the co-writers Jonathan Sayer:
How would you describe the show to someone who hasn’t seen it?
It’s a comedy all about a drama university group who are putting on a play and everything that could possibly go wrong…goes wrong. There's a big cast, there's lots of jokes and it pretty much does what it says on the tin.
Where did you get the idea for The Play That Goes Wrong?
There are three writers so there are a few different answers. I suppose we have all worked in theatre and have experiences of things going awry in shows we have been in. Some of my favourite moments watching theatre has been where things have gone dreadfully wrong and the actors are forced to deal with the mistake and try to keep the show on track.
On top of that a huge influence for us is a man called Michael Green who wrote The Art of Coarse Acting and actually taught one of the writers, Henry Lewis, at youth theatre. Then there's a huge amount of physical comedy which is definitely a nod to Chaplin and Keaton.
How did you create the script?
The three of us were living together at the time in a pretty run down flat in Gunnersbury. We were all working in bars and call centres and restaurants and, in the evenings, we'd come home and we'd write until the early hours. The initial script I think took about a month to put together and we then workshopped the script with the rest of the Mischief team. Everyone's done a lot of improv so we try and take those principles into the writing room and into rehearsal where if someone has an idea you accept it and you build on it.
We all made a pact together a long time ago that if something isn’t funny we'd just say it isn’t funny. I think writing comedy is like plumbing – if a guy comes round to fix your taps and they're still leaking, you say it's still leaking. He won't be upset, it's just a practical thing and I think you've got to try and approach this work in the same way. It's subjective and you've got to have personal distance. As long as you're always scrutinizing in a positive way, that's only going to make the work better.
You can be honest. Are the unfortunate actors depicted based on anyone in real life?
Haha! Nobody is being directly spoofed! The characters were all found in rehearsal and through performing in front of an audience.
Some of the events in the play seem like an actor’s worst nightmare! Have you had any feedback from actors themselves?
Lots of actors come up to us at the end of shows, be they professional or amateur, with some fantastic stories of things that have happened to them in different productions. I think the show has quite a cathartic effect for them. But it's not just actors, I think the idea of making a fool of yourself in front of a huge number of people is something that everyone can relate to. Everyone has felt that feeling where they want the ground to open up and swallow them, so they get on side with the characters in the play and they really want them to get to the end of the show!
Tickets are available throughout the summer, book now at ThePlayThatGoesWrong.com
Bad Jews
Following record-breaking, sold-out runs, the original West End production of Joshua Harmon’s comedy Bad Jews returns to the Arts Theatre in London for 11 weeks only!
Daphna Feygenbaum is a “real Jew” with an Israeli boyfriend to prove it. When her cousin Liam brings home his non-Jewish girlfriend Melody, and declares ownership of their grandfather’s necklace, it sparks a viciously hilarious brawl over family, faith and legacy.
Having premiered in New York in 2012, Bad Jews transferred to the UK where it toured nationally before celebrating two sold-out engagements in London’s West End. Now the “shockingly good” (Independent) original West-End production returns to the Arts Theatre for a strictly limited 11 week run.
Book now for this “blisteringly funny” (Sunday Times) and “ferociously clever” (Evening Standard) comedy about family, legacy and what you choose to believe in.
Tom, Dick & Harry
The sensational story of WWII's Greatest Escape
This London premiere of the story made famous by the 1963 movie starring Steve McQueen, is to be staged in the round at the historic Alexandra Palace Theatre, which was itself a prisoner of war camp between 1914-1919.
Based on the true story behind the escape from the infamous Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp, Tom, Dick and Harry (the names of the three escape tunnels of course!) will debunk the myths, honour the people involved, and tell the true story of one of the most daring escape attempts in World War II history.
With acrobatics, rousing music, and a script inspired by top secret information that was classified in the war archives until 1972, this is a funny, touching and truly inspiring story.
Co-written by Andrew Pollard, Michael Hugo and Theresa Heskins and brought to the stage by the producer of the worldwide smash-hits The Play That Goes Wrong and SIX the Musical, book now for this extraordinary theatrical adventure.
A New Vic Theatre and Kenny Wax Ltd. Co-Production
(Age recommendation 8+)
