Farce is rooted in highly choreographed confusion and mayhem, often with a lot of door slamming, near misses, a few pratfalls, and perhaps a slightly naughty bit. The Play That Goes Wrong at the Indiana Repertory Theatre is a wild and crazy production that will make you laugh so hard your sides will hurt.
The play was written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shield in 2012. Set in a small theatre in an English village in the 1940s, the “actors” are local amateurs in a murder mystery play. Things start going wrong even before the action starts, as parts of the set fall and doors stick, and the sound guy (Ryan Hallahan) and the technician (China Brickey) rush around trying to fix things at the last minute. The play begins with the director (Eric Sharp) giving a little speech, and when the curtains open, there’s a body on the fainting couch (Rob Johansen) and his best friend (Brett Mutter) walks in on the disturbing scene, followed the deceased’s fiance (Sarah Coakley Price), the butler (Claire Wilcher), and the victim’s brother (Dominique Lawson). Between the running around and props failing, and the doors not cooperating, the actors become increasingly frantic to keep going. The inspector arrives after being called (Eric Sharp again) and attempts to solve the mystery, but just adds to the confusion and chaos — and that’s just Act I. In Act II, things literally and figuratively begin to fall apart, as people are knocked unconscious and replaced by people who don’t know the lines. A girl fight breaks out and egos get bruised. The set completely collapses around them at the end.
Timing and precision are critical in a farce like this, and the extremely talented cast is absolutely perfect at being completely insane. Director Benjamin Hanna should get a round of applause for getting the best out of this crew. Special shout-outs to Dominique Lawson for stealing scene after scene with over-the-top gestures, Rob Johansen for his not-quite-dead performance as a corpse, Brett Mutter for his melodramatic spit-takes, and Sarah Coakley Price for her absolutely brave physical comedy. Everyone is on point and honestly, this is one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen. My sides began to hurt from laughter during the first act.
Please, go see The Play That Goes Wrong at the IRT Mainstage through May 11. Tickets start at $25, and are available online at irtlive.com or by calling 317-635-5252.
