
In need of a theatre fix, I headed off to watch the award-winning ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ at Covent Garden’s Duchess Theatre to see if it lived up to the reviews. Essentially a play within a play, the comedy sees the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society stage ‘Murder at Faversham Manor’, a murder mystery like no other.
It’s hard to say when the play itself actually starts. Whilst the ticket start time was 7.30pm, the actors could be seen asking those enjoying a pre-show drink in the bar if they had seen a dog on the loose, and scouring the audience in the auditorium, creating the uneasy feeling that one of us was destined to be singled out for our own stage debut. The bar staff and stewards too were in on the act, interacting with the cast as they beckoned and called.
The audience was made aware of the society’s supposed past cock-ups during the prelude, thus setting up expectations for what was to come...
It’s hard to say when the play itself actually starts. Whilst the ticket start time was 7.30pm, the actors could be seen asking those enjoying a pre-show drink in the bar if they had seen a dog on the loose, and scouring the audience in the auditorium, creating the uneasy feeling that one of us was destined to be singled out for our own stage debut. The bar staff and stewards too were in on the act, interacting with the cast as they beckoned and called.
The audience was made aware of the society’s supposed past cock-ups during the prelude, thus setting up expectations for what was to come...