PLAY REVIEW: 'The Play That Goes Wrong' gets everything right

May 12—PLAY REVIEW

VALDOSTA — Get ready to laugh.

A lot.

A whole lot.

Everything goes right in "The Play That Goes Wrong," one of the funniest shows staged in the past couple of decades by Theatre Guild Valdosta.

Regular theatre-goers and anyone with any experience working in theatre will recognize the series of calamities wonderfully penned by playwrights Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields: flubbing lines, lines cribbed on body parts, the diva actress, the actor who repeatedly breaks character and the fourth wall to connect with the audience, doors that stick, sets that wobble, misplaced or misappropriated props, etc.

This all goes wrong in "The Play That Goes Wrong" but the astute direction of Mary Ann Green, director, and Bryan Layton, assistant director, and the cast assures that all that can go wrong goes right — or rather, they never miss a beat at missing a beat.

Green allows the cast to have fun, be over the top and milk each gag before the next comedy bit comes rushing through the door, pops out of the wall or falls onto the floor. But having this much fun, with so much happening simultaneously throughout the entire run of the show requires tight discipline. There must be order for this much comedy chaos to work. Green finds the right balance.

The ensemble cast is superb. 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, all deserve accolades for performances that require not only deft comic timing matched with outrageous character personalities but just the sheer stamina of performing the acrobatics of the physical humor and keeping up with what comes rushing at them next.

The premise of the show is a play within a play. The Cornley Drama Society, a theatre troupe, is presenting a murder mystery, "The Murder at Haversham Manor."

While many live comedies build the laughs as audiences better understand the characters, the laughs start early in "The Play That Goes Wrong." Once they start, they never stop. Even the intermission, which has a way of slowing the tempo of comedies or even bringing the pacing to a dead halt, cannot stop the laughs in this play.

There is no message in "The Play That Goes Wrong." There are no overarching themes. No lofty ideals to be sifted through and found.

The idea is a comedy that will make audiences laugh and laugh and laugh some more.

Some may say there is no redeeming quality in such a comedy but making people laugh is more than enough in the redeeming quality category.

Bravo, Theatre Guild Valdosta. Thanks for the laughs. We all need it.

Theatre Guild Valdosta's "The Play That Goes Wrong" continues 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 12-13; 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.

This review is based on the Wednesday evening dress rehearsal performance.