EMPIRE THEATRE, LIVERPOOL – UNTIL SATURDAY 28TH MAY 2022
REVIEWED BY MIA BOWEN
5*****
Mischief’s Oliver Award winning, West End and Broadway hit comedy continues to entertain audiences around the world and is currently touring the UK for the fifth time. Last night the cast certainly provided the audience with plenty of belly laughs, as it premiered at the Empire Theatre.
Before the performance even started, we had our suspicions that not all was going to plan. As we were making our way from the bar, down the stairs to take our seat, a very well dressed man came running up the stairs towards us. He stopped in front of us, greeted us politely and continued running up the stairs past us. He looked a little bit distressed. When we took our seats, we noticed the production team walking around, asking the audience for their help in looking for their lost dog and a few minutes later a helpless stage manager attempted to secure a collapsing mantel piece on the set. This was hilarious and drew the audience’s attention, giving us a small taster of what we could be expecting throughout the evening’s performance.
This production is a farcical play within a play, and reminded me of ‘Faulty Towers’, everything that could go wrong, went wrong in the most delightful ways.
The talented cast play members of the Cornley Polytechninic Drama Society who is putting on (or attempting to put on) a 1920’s murder mystery, titled Murder at Haversham Manor.
For me the standouts of the evening included Edi De Melo, as Max the student playing Cecil and Harry Boyd as Chris, the newly elected Head of the drama society playing the part of Inspector Carter and the Director. Their charisma and charm on stage, drew in the audience, commanded their full attention and send them into fits of laughter.
The set (Nigel Hook) helped contribute to the majority of the catastrophes, from the misplacement of props, to the gradual destruction of the set by the end of the play.
I left the theatre with a huge grin on my face, listening to people around me cackling out loud and recalling their favourite part of the play. The Play That Goes Wrong really is a comical sensation!