Duchess Theatre, London – booking until February 2026
5*****
By Emily Smith
Fairy Powered Productions were delighted to be invited to attend the 10th anniversary gala performance of The Play That Goes Wrong, to help celebrate a decade on London’s West End.
The atmosphere at the Duchess Theatre was electric with a very excited audience which was made up of those who have been involved in the production over the last ten years, including many previous cast members and those from Mischief.
The show itself was brilliant; I have never seen such an incredible set (by Nigel Hook) that is so cleverly designed to literally fall apart every night and then be put back together to do it all again the next night! The special effects (sparks, flames, you name it) and stunts, with accompanying sound effects, had the audience shrieking and gasping throughout.
This is of course not to mention the comedic value of the play which had the audience laughing from start to finish. In fact, while trying to quickly jot a few notes down for this article, I found myself missing some of the jokes on stage – you really couldn’t look away for even a second without missing something! This is testament to the great writing by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, as well as direction by Mark Bell.
Given that so much deliberately goes wrong, it is near impossible to tell what was supposed to happen and what (if anything) was ad-libbed, but that is part of the charm of this show! As a self-confessed perfectionist, watching something full of ‘mistakes’ was refreshing and perhaps we should all take a leaf from this show’s book!
The whole cast were absolutely brilliant. For me, the standout performances of the night were by Owen Jenkins (Robert), Jay Olpin (Max) and Daniel Anthony (Dennis), who had the audience in absolute fits of laughter with their excellently delivered lines, perfect comedic timing and audience interaction.
The entire audience clearly felt a huge emotional attachment to the show, and everyone involved should be proud of what it has achieved over the years! The speech at the end of the show by Jonathan Sayer was a testament to this, and really captured how beloved this show is by so many.
The Play That Goes Wrong is the longest comedy in the West End, and it’s clear to see why – for a play that goes wrong, it certainly gets a lot right!