THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG – Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields; Directed by Mark Walden. Produced by Shark Box Theatre Company (Presented at Stage Door Theatre, 25797 Conifer Road, Conifer) through August 23. Tickets available at Sharkboxtheatre.com.
How ironic for a theatre company that professes on their website mission statement that they “work day and night to make sure our performances are flawless and meaningful,” and then deliberately chooses to mount a production that gets its humor from all of the fails and inadequacies of a goofball mythical English theatre company gone wrong. This leads to a new definition of “flawless.” However, their audiences are so very glad they made this decision.
Every script written requires that certain items, be they furniture, set dressing, props or articles of clothing, be available in the right place at the right time. Some scripts make this easier than others. Productions like NOISES OFF, COME FROM AWAY, and this little gem demand that certain pieces of the set work flawlessly. Shark Box Theatre Company uses every bit of their engineering prowess to get their set to work the way it’s supposed to – even though it looks like it’s falling apart. It’s self-destructing with a purpose. There are things in this script that are “suggested,” but are unable to be produced by some companies. Too complicated or dangerous. Not here. Everything that needs to fall, come undone, explode, be reconstructed on stage actually happens in front of the audience . . . to create high humor.
Not only the set pieces, but the actors too have to bear the brunt of being stepped on, knocked out on stage, dragged through the lone window, fall from platforms, use ladders to get to parts of the stage . . . . and on and on. This motley crew suffered gladly for their art in this production – again, in front of the audience . . . to create high humor. I hope they had a line item in their budget for Band-Aids and slings. They tackle the slapstick no-holds-barred action of the script with gusto; I don’t see how they keep from breaking up on stage at their own silliness.
The two women deserve high-blown kudos for how they weather the rough treatment they endure. When one actress gets knocked out by a swinging door and dragged off stage through a window, she is replaced by a reluctant stage manager wearing the actress’s costume over her clothes. When the actress wakes up and tries to regain her role, the stage manager has decided she likes being on stage and won’t give up the script or the costume. Their bickering ultimately leads to a knock-down drag-out battle between the two with head-bashing trays and hair-pulling. Yashila Permeswaran and Hayley Siedlik have way too much fun beating each other up.
The men too get in their licks. Head clown is Joshua Caraballo is Dennis, the Butler, with a decidedly Groucho Marx bent to his performance. He has crib notes on his sleeves and can’t pronounce the cues correctly when he does find them. All of the men bring their A game on stage with them, moving quickly through the required gymnastics and humpty-dumpty routines. Arthur Mayer is Trevor, the sound man, jokester, and stand-in at the last minute. Neil Isales Jr., Robert Martin, Luke Dumoulin, and Braden Egtvedt are, in turn, the murdered, the murderer, and the detective trying to solve the murder. It’s an equal opportunity investigation with all members getting accused at one time or another. By halfway through Act I, you don’t really care whodunnit – just keep doing it.
Kudos to everyone connected with this complicated production. You can tell it took a village. But it paid off for their audiences. Conifer is just a 20-minute drive up in the hills. You’ll discover a new theatre company that works hard for your attention, a new (for some of you) theatre space that always delivers, no matter who is playing in it, and a charming mountain village full of really good restaurants and really good theatre.
You’ll go right with the PLAY THAT GOES WRONG!!
WOW factor of 8. 75!!