2027-28 Proposal: The Play That Goes Wrong

The Play That Goes Wrong

by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields

Directed by Johanna Spencer

Show Synopsis 

From Mischief, Broadway masters of comedy, comes this smash-hit farce. Welcome to opening night of the Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. This 1920s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show: an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences! Part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, this Olivier Award-winning comedy is a global phenomenon that’s guaranteed to leave you aching with laughter!

The Play That Goes Wrong is a farcical, murder mystery, play-within-a-play, conceived and originally performed by award-winning company Mischief.

Vision Statement: "The Play That Goes Wrong" is not a bad play pretending to be good, but a brilliantly staged masterpiece that ends up a disaster. It is a slapstick comedy where the Cornley  Drama Society attempts to put on a 1920s murder mystery, but absolutely everything goes wrong. From collapsing props and falling actors to locked-out cast members, the show provides non-stop chaos with the set acting as a main character.

The show is a love letter to amateur theater and the dedicated artists who keep it alive.  The premise is that everything that can possibly go wrong, does go wrong, yet the performers bravely push on to the final curtain. Watching characters navigate completely overwhelming, hilarious chaos is a perfect metaphor for handling everyday modern life, providing a communal laugh at the fact that sometimes, life is just a beautiful, uncontrollable mess.

The show contrasts the carefully maintained illusion of a play with the reality that live productions rely on flawless coordination. When the set literally collapses around the actors, it symbolizes how artificial stage reality is.

Despite missing props, forgotten lines, and unconscious actors, the accident-prone thespians continuously battle against all odds to reach the final curtain call.

The characters, specifically the uptight director Chris Bean and the overly ambitious Robert, desperately try to maintain control and "serious" acting methods while facing absurd circumstances.

Operating as a "play within a play," the show openly mocks itself and theatrical conventions, continuously breaking the fourth wall.

"The Play That Goes Wrong" is a perfect fit for The Majestic. It is a massive crowd-pleaser and a highly recognizable title that guarantees strong ticket sales and local community participation. It provides an excellent platform for local Willamette Valley actors to showcase advanced physical theater and comedic timing, while also testing the scenic and technical limits of the Majestic’s stage crew and it is a moderate-scale play with an intimate cast size, keeping physical production constraints manageable while maximizing entertainment value.