Shelton Connecticut’s Center Stage Theatre presents a laugh-out-loud funny production of The Play The Goes Wrong directed by Betsy Kelso. With an Inception-like depth, The Play That Goes Wrong is a play within a play where the cast and crew’s ‘who dun it’ becomes a ‘who’s doing what’ as the lights and sound glitch, the set falls apart, and roles are confused. This production is a picture of Murphy’s Law where everything that could possibly go wrong absolutely did.
Annie (Melanie Byron) and Trevor (Hunter Smith), the stage hands, have a time putting pieces of the set back together only moments before the proverbial curtain rises on the production, The Murder at Haversham Manor. The premise of the play within the play is the standard murder mystery: a house full of suspects with motive and one wealthy deceased man at the center of all of the hubbub—that man is Charles Haversham (Dave Kaminski). Surrounded by friends and family with a snowstorm outside, the suspect is likely one of the trusted people inside the house. The suspected are Florence Colleymore (Briana Dawson), Charles’ fiance, and her brother Thomas Colleymore (Scott Sheldon). Cecil Haversham (Paul Keegan), is the brother of the deceased. Perkins (Lucy Babbitt), the house keeper. Arthur the Gardener (also portrayed by Paul Keegan), and even Inspector Carter (Terrance J. Peters).
Byron and Smith exceed expectations in their portrayal of the worst stage hands in the business. Sheldon’s portrayal of a coy, quick-witted Robert, who frequently steps out of Thomas’ character to provide commentary on all the things that go awry, gives comedic depth to the production. Babbitt is a crowd favorite; her characterization of the seemingly daft Denise, who we see when she breaks away from Perkins to check her lines, brilliantly underscores each scene, while Kaminski’s ill-timed appearances throw off the big reveal. Dawson is slapstick funny in the misplaced dramatics of Sandra playing Florence, and Keegan is a riot. The ensemble’s rib-tickling antics create an amusing performance that is the perfect end-of-week treat.
The sound design of Liz Muller and Terrance Peters, paired with the lighting design of Betsy Kelso and Justin Zenchuk, create the perfectly ill-timed effects for the whimsically incongruous, dilapidating house-of-cards set design of Scott Sheldon. The costume and prop designs by Lindsey Campbell and Tammy D’Auria are instrumental in the improvisational quality of the production.
It takes a lot of good work to stage a bad play. Under the direction of Betsy Kelso, the cast and crew phenomenally and hilariously deconstructs the set and the process of theatre production. It unwittingly puts into perspective just how much it takes to make a play go right and deepens our appreciation for the ones that do.
The Play That Goes Wrong runs through April 28th. Get tickets at centerstageshelton.org/
