REVIEW: The Play That Goes Wrong at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre (Monday, April 3)

IN these times of a country divided by political opinion and social media trolls spewing hate on each other online, sometimes we need a little comedy to bring a small bit of joy to our lives, writes Dan Sharp.

Step forward The Play That Goes Wrong.

During the two-and-a-bit hours at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre all thoughts of Brexit and a possible war with Spain go out of the window; as do plenty of the characters – literally – in this brilliant and side-splittingly hilarious play.

It’s easy to see how this show has been given a plethora of awards and gone on to huge success on in the West End, playing to an audience of over a quarter of a million.

The Play That Goes Wrong tells the story of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and their attempt to stage The Murder at Haversham Manor, but as the title suggests, as one thing goes wrong, each disaster leads to another.

You might think a whole production of slapstick comedy would start to feel quite tiresome after a while, but not here.

Being able to stand on a stage and perform a dramatic monologue or a well-rehearsed musical number is the easy part of theatre. Being able to make things go wrong and then deliberately worse without it looking purposeful – now there’s a skill.

The play within the play – The Murder At Haversham Manor – could easily be changed for any other and still be performed to an excellent standard by this superb cast, as the story is not what matters here.

The increased chaos with each mistake, snowballing into funnier and funnier disasters was mesmerizing and kept me laughing until tears were streaming down my cheeks.

It would be wrong of me to single out any of the cast for praise or criticism. It is one of the rare occasions that I could not fault any of the actors, all of whom showed how skilled they are with perfect performances – working so well together as a group.

If any of the cast and especially the stage hands – who are pivotal to the success of the show – would have been off their game, the whole show would not have worked.

The comical timing was second to none throughout this laugh-a-minute production, which I just cannot praise enough.

I have never cried tears of laughter during a play as much as I did watching this show. It is an absolute smash hit that I urge everyone who needs a bit of joy in their lives to experience – 4 ½ out of 5.

The Play That Goes Wrong is at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre until Saturday (April 8). Tickets, priced from £13.50, are on sale at the box office in person, by calling 01902 429212, or online at grandtheatre.co.uk