ACTORS will open 68th season with current Broadway comedy hit "The Play That Goes Wrong"

Ronna Faaborg, Ames Tribune
·3 min read
Wesley Tener, Chris Jass, Jenna Levendusky, Brendan Donnelly and Jobe Fee rehearse for ACTORS production of "The Play That Goes Wrong."
Wesley Tener, Chris Jass, Jenna Levendusky, Brendan Donnelly and Jobe Fee rehearse for ACTORS production of "The Play That Goes Wrong."

What is meant to go wrong will.

ACTORS kicks off its new season Thursday with one of the most popular comedies on Broadway, “The Play That Goes Wrong.”

Local director Stan Rabe recently saw the show at New World Stages in Manhattan, where it’s been called the “best comedy pick of the season” by the New York Times.

The show has remained a source of laughter since Rabe first stumbled upon it in London.

“Getting to direct this show is a huge challenge and an absolute delight,” Rabe said. “We have a cast that fits like a glove, and they are having a blast. The audience will, too.”

Jean Eichmeier is taking the role of assistant director for the first time at ACTORS.

“Assisting with ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ has created opportunities for me to have fun,” she said. “The director, production crew and cast are creative and committed to giving our audience a great theater experience.”

“The Play That Goes Wrong” was written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields from the Mischief Theatre Company.

“It is a farcical comedy that revolves around a fictional amateur dramatic society called the ‘Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’ as they attempt to stage a murder mystery titled ‘The Murder at Haversham Manor,’” Rabe said.

As the title suggests, plenty goes wrong. It’s an experience shared by people who spend time working in theater, and ACTORS cast and crew are no different. They’re using past failures as inspiration, poised for "The Play That Goes Wrong" to launch ACTORS' 68th season.

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ACTORS production of "The Play That Goes Wrong"
ACTORS production of "The Play That Goes Wrong"

'Slapstick humor, physical comedy and improvisation'

The play within the play is presented as a traditional murder mystery, but everything that can go wrong during a theatrical production does go wrong, Rabe said. From the beginning, the show is plagued with mishaps, errors and technical failures. The set collapses, props are misplaced, lines are forgotten and actors miss their cues.

“Theater fans will recognize the situations and laugh at how the cast goes about trying to fix the problems," Rube said. "Non-theater fans will just laugh."

The chaos intensifies as the show progresses, which leads to a hilarious chain of events. The characters struggle to cope with the mounting disasters, desperately trying to maintain their composure and continue with the performance, even as it spirals into complete mayhem.

“The cast members find themselves caught in a web of slapstick humor, physical comedy and improvisation as they try to salvage the production while dealing with their own personal rivalries,” Rabe said.

The play is full of visual gags and absurd situations, with a fast pace, over-the-top humor, physical comedy, and clever wordplay,

“The Play That Goes Wrong” has received widespread acclaim since its premiere in 2012, and it has become a popular production both in the West End of London and on and off-Broadway.

“Its success lies in its ability to provide an evening of pure, unadulterated laughter by embracing the mishaps and imperfections that can occur in live theater,” Rabe said.

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ACTORS production of "The Play That Goes Wrong"
ACTORS production of "The Play That Goes Wrong"

Several veteran ACTORS and two newcomers are on cast

ACTORS welcomes several actors back to its stage, including Jobe Fee (Robert), Brendan Donnelly (Chris), Wes Tener (Dennis), Sophie Bass (Annie), David Korkow (Max) and Micah Simpson (Trevor). New to ACTORS stage for this production is Jenna Levendusky as Sandra and Chris Jass as Jonathan.

The complicated and demanding set is practically a character itself, Rabe said. The set was designed, engineered and built by Mike Jackson, Kari Ehrecke and Mike Miller.

“Lynn Lloyd has done the spectacular costumes with help from Susan Barry. Mataya Huling is in charge of props, and Zach Heilman is designing the lights,” he said.

With six shows, the comedy runs weekends Sept. 14 through Sept. 24. The Mucky Duck is providing opening night appetizers.

Tickets are $20, available online at actorsinc.org or in person at Alpha Copies, 3615 West Lincoln Way.

Ronna Faaborg is a reporter for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rlawless@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: ACTORS stages current Broadway hit comedy 'The Play That Goes Wrong'