SHANE PETERMAN, PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
PRESENTS

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

BY HENRY LEWIS, HENRY SHIELDS & JONATHAN SAYER

ON THE TERRY MARTIN MAIN STAGE 

_{THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York. Presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service under license from Mischief Worldwide Ltd. The Mischief Production of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG was originally produced on the West End Stage by Kenny Wax & Stage Presence
 and on Broadway by Kevin McCollum, J.J. Abrams, Kenny Wax & Stage Presence THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG was first presented by Mischief Theatre under the title The Murder Before Christmas on December 4th, 2012, at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London.THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields © 2012, 2014 Mischief Worldwide Ltd. All rights reserved.THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, the “Falling G” logo device, Mischief, and Mischief Theatre are trademarks of Mischief Worldwide Ltd. All rights reserved. For Mischief Worldwide Ltd.:
 Directors: Mark Bentley, Jonathan Burke, Henry Lewis, Kenny Wax, Executive Director: Jo Danvers, Marketing Manager: Harry Lockyear, Production & Administrative Assistant: Minoli De Silva, Exclusive Agent for Literary Rights: Nicki Stoddart, United Agents LLP, London. For information about all Mischief works, please visit www.mischiefcomedy.com}

THEATRE NAMING SPONSORS:

Don and Barbara Daseke, Kathleen A. Messina & Gary Goodwin, Stan Graner, Janiece & Jimmy Niemann 

CAST:

UNDERSTUDIES:

Micah Brooks, Christina Cranshaw, Mitchell Stephens

*Appearing through the SPT Agreement between this theatre, WaterTower Theatre, and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. 

The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited

The action takes place on the opening night of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Brideswell. Present day.

There will be a 15 minute intermission.

Water Tower Theatre, 2023

It's true that at first glance The Play That Goes Wrong doesn’t seem to have a lot in common with The Murder at Haversham Manor (the play that the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society is attempting to produce as the play-within-a-play in The Play That Goes Wrong), but there are, in fact, some similarities.  The most crucial one of these similarities is this: the two genres represented here are (1) Farce (The Play That Goes Wrong), and (2) Murder Mystery (the fictional play The Murder at Haversham Manor).  Both of these categories of plays rely very heavily on plot in their structures; they are each a series of compelling events which create the excitement of the plays. 

Farce is defined as a comedy in which a series of incredibly silly and fantastic complications occur to the major characters, stretching the limits of credibility, but never quite slipping over the edge into fantasy or the absolutely impossible.  The fun of a farce is to watch the characters struggle and suffer as their best laid plans are systematically trampled on by a series of amazingly silly, though not impossible complications.  These plays are often extremely popular with audiences!  Some contemporary examples are Noises Off (written by Michael Frayn), and One Man, Two Guv’ners (Richard Bean), and other classic farces include Charley’s Aunt (Brandon Thomas), What the Butler Saw (Joe Orton), Bedroom Farce (Alan Ayckbourn) and many of the works of two great playwrights who specialized in farce, Georges Feydeau (Hotel Paradiso; A Flea in Her Ear), and Ray Cooney (Run For Your Wife; Not Now, Darling).

Murder mysteries have a completely different tone from faces, of course, but they are also heavily dependent on plot.  They normally contain a series of twists and turns, filled with both clues and red herrings, as the playwright creates a guessing game for the audience concerning who might ultimately be revealed as the culprit.  Again, many of these plays have long been audience favorites!  The Murder at Haversham Manor owes a lot to one of the masters of the murder mystery, Agatha Christie, specifically The Mousetrap (which has been playing in London in its original run for more than 70 years, and which has a planned Broadway production later this year).  Additional successful entries into the murder mystery genre for the stage include Dial M For Murder (Frederick Knott), Deathtrap (Ira Levin) and Sleuth (Anthony Shaffer).

Other kinds of comedies and dramas may emphasize richly nuanced characters, or contain thoughtful and provocative ideas or themes.  However, farces and murder mysteries are usually populated by stock, two-dimensional characters, and these plays have as their overarching purpose an evening of exciting entertainment (hilarious or suspenseful), rather than profound insights.  Farces and mysteries are about story first and last.  The acting in these plays requires extremely clear choices to keep the unfolding of events, the storytelling, crystal clear for the audience.  In rehearsal, we have worked hard to play one moment at a time in the play, never allowing the characters to assume anything about what’s coming next in the story, and letting each domino fall clearly, even as it knocks over the next one in line.

So, it’s rather fitting that the play that does indeed go wrong in The Play That Goes Wrong is a murder mystery, a surprisingly similar style of play.

-Harry Parker

Members of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society

(in order of appearance)

ANNIE is the company's stage manager.

STAGE CREW, the Cornley Drama Society stage crew

TREVOR is the company's lighting and sound operator

CHRIS is the head of the drama society, directed the play, and plays Inspector Carter

JONATHAN plays Charles haversham

ROBERT plays Thomas Colleymoore

DENNIS plays Perkins

MAX plays Cecil Haversham and Arthur the Gardener

SANDRA plays Florence Colleymoore

The action takes place on the opening night of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor  by Susie H. K. Brideswell. Present Day.

CHARACTERS IN THE MURDER AT HAVERSHAM MANOR

(in order of appearance)

CHARLES HAVERSHAM, the deceased

THOMAS COLLEYMOORE, Charles' old school friend

PERKINS, Charles' butler

CECIL HAVERSHAM, Charles' brother

FLORENCE COLLEYMOORE, Charles' fiance and Thomas' sister

INSPECTOR CARTER, an esteemed local inspector

ARTHUR THE GARDENER, the gardener at Haversham Manor

The action takes place in Charles' private rooms at Haversham Manor on the evening of Charles and Florence's engagement party. Winter 1922.

The Play That Goes Wrong premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London in 2012 as a one act version, this then moved to Trafalgar Studios in 2013.

The play then began a UK tour, following its run at Trafalgar Studios, from January 2014 at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, visiting 17 venues and ending in Darlington in July, prior to being given a West End Venue.

The play then opened at the Duchess Theatre in the West End on 14 September 2014, where it remains and is currently booking until April 2023!

The original cast then opened the play on Broadway in 2017 at the Lyceum Theatre with JJ Abrams making his debut as a theatrical producer and becoming the longest running play on Broadway at the time with 745 regular performances and 27 previews. It is currently running Off-Broadway at the New World Stages. 

Now stumbling through its eighth catastrophic year in London's West End and having performed in over 35 countries across 6 continents, winning multiple awards around the world including the WhatsOnStage and Olivier Award for Best New Comedy plus a Tony and Drama Desk Award for Best Scenic Design of a Play, The Play That Goes Wrong is a global phenomenon, which is guaranteed to leave you aching with laughter!

BUT WHAT MAKES IT THE WORLD’S BIGGEST HIT SHOW?

Simple math.
19 is the number of times actors get hit in each show, either by an object or each other.
There have been 6194 performances in the English language all around the World.
Which means someone has been struck 117,686 times.
Making this (officially) the biggest HIT play. (Ouch!)

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SHOW AND THE CREATORS:

MISCHIEF COMEDY & THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

Rebecca Neef, President 
Steven Pipes, Vice President 
Maggie Vera, Vice President  
Phil Longacre, Treasurer 
Jeannette Johnson, Secretary 

Rosalind Benjet 
Blake Clemens 
Barbara Daseke 
Tim Horan 
Nadia Loudon 
Craig Sutton 
Tiffany Richmond 
Maggie Vera
Brittany Willis

WaterTower Theatre depends on the the generosity of individuals, foundations, and corporate sponsors to continue to produce the highest quality professional theatre.

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to the following donors who have given between March 1, 2023 – April 10, 2024

The below listing reflects gifts received between 03.01.2023 and 04.10.2024. We apologize for any unintentional omissions. 

We gratefully acknowledge the 500+ donors who each year, through their contributions, make it possible for WTT to present over 125 performances each year. Although space limits our ability to publicly recognize donors at levels below $250, we deeply and sincerely appreciate every contribution. As ticket sales cover only a portion of our annual costs, these generous gifts of patrons, corporations, foundations, and others are critical to WTT’s ability to create quality professional theatre for our audience.  Should you wish to be added to this extraordinary list of donors, please visit our website at www.watertowertheatre.org/donations or contact Brian Gonzales at 972-450-6275 or via email at bgonzales@watertowertheatre.org

Thank you!