The Play That Goes Wrong: Guild opens comedy of errors
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May 10—VALDOSTA — The actor who speaks directly to the audience.
The stage manager who must step in for a character last minute, reading from the script.
The diva. Set malfunctions. Lost lines. Skipped pages. Actors breaking character. Bungled stage directions. Crew members who become part of the show. "Dead" characters who are obviously breathing, or moving on stage.
Mary Ann Green and many of her fellow Theatre Guild Valdosta members have seen and experienced all of these stage mishaps.
The fun with the Guild's latest production, "The Play That Goes Wrong," is all of these things happen, on purpose, in comedic fashion.
One of the beauties of the show is, if any of these events actually happen, the audience will never know the difference between what was planned and what is simply a hazard of doing a live show.
Playwrights Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields pen a play within a play. The audience watches as the serious play becomes a fiasco.
Theatre Guild synopsis: "Welcome to opening night of the Cornley Drama Society's newest production, 'The Murder at Haversham Manor,' where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. This 1920s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show — an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can't play dead and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences."
The award-winning comedy has been running non-stop in London since its 2012 premiere. Green said it's gaining popularity with community theatre groups throughout the U.S.
Theatre Guild hopes to make it a popular conclusion to its 2022-23 season.
THE CAST: Justin Chandler, Whitney Chappell, John Winscher, Josh Robertson, Dalton Bell, Hank Thompson, Allie Smotherman, Alijah Patterson, Blair Hendrix-Salazar, Kelly Uphold, Brawdy Gupton, Ben Hawley, Isabel Williams, Kamari Samuels, Jay Baron.
DIRECTION: Mary Ann Green, director; Bryan Layton, assistant director.
Theatre Guild Valdosta presents "The Play That Goes Wrong," 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 11-13; 2 p.m. Sunday, May 14; 7:30 p.m., May 18-20, The Dosta Playhouse, 122 N. Ashley St. More information: Call (229) 247-8243, or visit theatreguildvaldosta.com.
