Festival Theatre, Malvern – until 13th November 2021
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
5*****
Not just a smash, a totally joyous car crash!
For anyone not having seen any of the live shows by Mischief, nor the associated television series The Goes Wrong Show, this show is really a serious play attempting to be staged in earnest whilst a good old fashioned farce ensues “unintentionally” around it. The plot centres around the fictional Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s attempt to stage Murder At Haversham Manor but, predictably enough (as evidenced in the title), things start to unravel almost immediately (if not sooner) with hilarious consequences as the actors try to hold it all together with more (or frequently less) degrees of success.
Without giving too much away, the opening is not your traditional opening with lights dimmed and curtain raised. The audience are engaged as part of the action even before the on stage play has “officially” gotten underway, so my advice would be to arrive promptly so you don’t miss the actual start of the piece. I found myself laughing so hard that I could have done with an intermission to recover just from the introduction!
There is a great deal of audience participation throughout the evening, with the interplay between the company onstage (and off) and the audience being key to the ongoing joke. There also appeared to be some genuine improvisation from the cast following some rather pantoesque interjections from the audience at several points – something which the cast genuinely seemed to revel in.
Like all great comedy, they make it look easy but masterful comedic timing was displayed impeccably throughout, showing both a company which is very much in command of the material and also having obvious enormous fun amid the chaos. In fact, something so chaotic looking can only truly succeed by actors who have rehearsed the material to perfection since if they were truly as amateur as they are portraying, the jokes, asides and slapstick would not work anywhere near as well.
All of the cast had their moments to shine in this most ensemble of pieces, including the set which acts as an extra player for much of the time. Although all were brilliant, Max Bennett (who plays Cecil Haversham and Arthur the Gardener) deserves an extra special mention. He very much reminded me of a young Python era Michael Palin, especially in his mannerisms and cheeky smile. A tour de force of over acting!
This is a play that I could very happily see again and again and I am sure I would still find new things to savour that I had missed on previous visits due to being doubled over in laughter. Thick and fast doesn’t begin to cover the speed with which the jokes hit you (especially in the climactic scene) and it is all the better for it.
Just what the doctor ordered after the year we have endured. An absolute triumph!