Everything goes right where laughter is concerned in The Play That Goes Wrong, the West End-to-Broadway comedy smash that that just might set a laughs-per-minute record at the La Mirada Theatre.

 Ask any stage actor to recall their worst live-theater mishaps and you’ll likely get at least one of these responses:

–The time they couldn’t find a prop that was supposed to be there and then had to make do with what was at hand.
–The time a cast member went up on their lines and had to cry out for help.
–The time a stuck door wouldn’t unstick.
–The time they were given the wrong cue and ended up either back where they’d already been or farther ahead in the plot than they had any business being.

 –The time that illness or injury necessitated a mid-show replacement who had no idea what they were doing.
–The time a prop fell from where it was hanging or standing.
–The time they had to pretend that everything was going right when absolutely everything was going wrong.

 Each and every one of these contretemps occurs in Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields’s The Play That Goes Wrong, and that’s just the tip of the farcical iceberg.

Following its 2015 Laurence Olivier Award win for Best New Comedy, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields’ The Play That Goes Wrong crossed the Atlantic for a 745-performance Broadway run (no big deal fifty years ago but a very big deal these days) before immediately transferring off-Broadway and embarking on a major National Tour, and now it’s regional theaters like La Mirada who’ll be packing them in for this laugh-packed comedy extravaganza.

 The Play That Goes Wrong imagines what might transpire if a thoroughly inept bunch of theater-loving amateurs were suddenly given enough money to stage a production as originally written. (Before tonight’s Agatha Christie-esque The Murder at Haversham Manor, the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society had been forced by lack of funding to produce reduced-cast productions of Two Sisters, The Lion And The Wardrobe, and Cat.)

Drama Society stage manager Annie (Mary Faber) and lighting-and-sound operator Trevor (Michael-Leon Wooley) get the side-splitting action going even before The Play That Goes Wrong gets started, then end up recruited to do much more than they bargained for when signing up for backstage duty.

Serving as our host to the evening’s murder mystery is Jack-of-all-trades Chris Bean (John Sanders), who’s not only directed, designed, and done PR for the committed (and commitment-worthy) Drama Society, he stars as Inspector Carter, assigned to investigate the mysterious death of Charles Haversham (Sterling Suleiman), the crime’s chief suspects being the victim’s fiancée Florence (Regina Fernandez), his brother Cecil (Garrett Clayton), aka Florence’s secret lover, his best friend Thomas (Trent Mills), and his faithful (or not so faithful) butler Perkins (Reggie De Leon).

Under Eric Petersen’s inspired direction, the absolutely sensational Clayton, De Leon, Faber, Fernandez, Mills, Sanders, Suleiman, and Wooley not only deliver deliciously, deliberately over-over-the-top performances to do the world’s worst community theater thespians proud, they do so while accomplishing back-breaking physical comedy that must be seen to be believed. (If ever a cast deserved combat-pay bonuses, this is that cast.)

Production design elements are all top-notch, chief among them Czerton Lim’s posh, deceptively “accident-proof “set, one that delivers the everything-that-could-go-wrong-does-go-wrong goods to heart-stopping effect.

Adam Ramirez’s colorful, mostly 1920s-era costumes, Steven Young’s vibrant lighting, Josh Bessom’s sound design mix of expertly amped voices and comic effects, and Kaitlin Yagen’s often very funny hair, wig, and makeup designs are all tip-top, with at least one surprise burst of flames from pyrotechnic designer Eric S. Elias and some hilarious fight choreography (including comic swordplay) by Michael Polak.

 The Play That Goes Wrong is presented by La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts, and McCoy Rigby Entertainment in associated with “The Conley Drama Society.” Casting is by Lindsay Brooks. Alyssa Anne Austin, Danny Montooth, and Jamie Morgan are swings.

Carly Jibson is assistant director. Caitlin Muelder is dialect coach. Charles Glaudini is assistant sound designer. Kevin Clowes is technical director. Talia Krispel is production stage manager and Kathryn Davies and Audrey Colindres are assistant stage managers. David Elzer is publicist.

The ideal post-inauguration pick-me-up, The Play That Goes Wrong starts off 2025 on the New Year’s most uproarious note. Don’t sue the theater if you die laughing.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Boulevard, La Mirada. Through February 26. Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00, and Sundays at 1:30 and 6:30.
www.lamiradatheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
January 25, 2025
Photos: Jason Niedle/TETHOS

Tags: Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer, La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts, Los Angeles Theater Review, McCoy Rigby Entertainment