

An actor gets knocked out. Props fall off the walls. The set falls down. All things that would spell disaster for most shows. But at “The Play That Goes Wrong,” at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago, that means everything is going right.
In “The Play That Goes Wrong,” the Cornley University Drama Society (making its Chicago debut) endeavors to put on the murder mystery “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” Plagued by bad actors, lazy technicians, and a whole audience laughing at them, the Cornley University Drama Society members pull through no matter what. Even if half the actors are concussed.

Sarah Schudt
Graphic Designer
At a performance last week, over the two hours of the show, there was hardly a moment where the audience wasn’t laughing. The evening started small, with only a few minor things going wrong such as missing props or actors forgetting lines, escalating to actors getting trapped in clocks and the entire set falling down around the actors’ ears. A particular highlight was when a small balcony’s support got knocked out, forcing the actors to carefully hold onto the sloping surface to prevent themselves (and the furniture) from falling.
A show of this sort takes a highly skilled cast, and all of the actors in this production live up to the task.
Standouts included Joseph Anthony Bryd (Jonathan) as a lively corpse whose anguished eyes got some of the biggest laughs of the night, Jonah D. Winston (Robert) who chewed the scenery with aplomb, and Michael Kurowski (Dennis) whose frequent mispronunciations got several shrieks of laughter.
It has been a long time since I’ve seen a piece of theater that gave me such joy. Therefore, I give “The Play That Goes Wrong” 4.5 stars. Running until April 3, with tickets available here, this show is a delight that should not be missed.
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