THEATRE REVIEW

AUGUST 2025 | Volume 254

 

The play that goes wrong is quite an apt description of The Play That Goes Wrong. In no particular order: there are doors that don’t open, coat hangers painted on the wall, a dead body that can’t stop moving, wooden acting, a ridiculous script, missing props, missed entrances, stagehands who keep appearing on stage, actors who forget their lines, an actor who likes to show off to the audience, mis-timed sound cues, an actor and stagehand playing the same character at the same time, and a set that gradually comes apart and collapses. And I’ve forgotten more than I’ve remembered.

This is one funny play, and the folks from Black Box Theatre (who are these guys?!) do a damn fine job with it. An amateur English theatre company is putting on a play much like Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap (which was playing just across the island the night I saw TPTGW). It’s a pretty dumb murder mystery, but I lost the plot about halfway through because I was laughing so hard. The eight actors in this non-Equity company are sterling. Jordon Navratil plays both the director and the Inspector. Matt Loop and Rebecca Wass are the stagehands who get intimately involved in the action. James Barclay (who also co-designed the set), Trevor Roberts, Christopher Dellinger, Nick Palidwor and Tracy Labrosse, who co-designed the set and also directs, play the various inhabitants of the manor. Everyone, it goes without saying, is a suspect.

The art of coarse acting is indeed an art, and these folks have perfected it. But even more impressive is their timing—not just the actors’ but stage management and the backstage crew who ensure that the actors’ movements and gestures coincide perfectly—or, rather, imperfectly—with the onstage action: the shelves that fall off the wall, the floor that collapses. Kudos to everyone but especially to director Labrosse. This is a very well-rehearsed show. You see this especially when Barclay and Labrosse’s amazing set begins to fall apart. How does no one get hurt?! Nice lighting effects from Simon Drake, sound from Chris Stanley, and props from Karen Hamm. And the crew who clean up and re-set the stage at intermission deserves a big hand.

This show is a serious gamble for a small company at a time of year when few theatre companies dare to produce. I saw the show on Wednesday night of its second week and every seat was sold. It has one more week to run. Grab a ticket while you can. Way to go, Black Boxers.

 

 

 

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