Review: Theatre Calgary's comedy of errors earns raves for impeccable timing, brilliant delivery

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With the opening of The Play That Goes Wrong in the Max Bell Theatre, there is good news and bad news.

The good news is this version, produced by Theatre Calgary, The Citadel Theatre and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, rivals and, in some aspects, surpasses those in London where it has been playing for 12 years, and in New York, where it is in its seventh year.

Beyata Hackborn’s set, for instance, easily outperforms those in London and New York, and I definitely mean performs. The set is a character in itself. It needs to have doors that won’t open, pictures and wall decorations that have minds of their own, and a small second level that proves to be an engineering nightmare. What Hackborn has done to make this all work so seamlessly and believably is pure genius.

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The premise of this version is that the Cornley Drama Society has rented the Max Bell Theatre for its production of The Murder at Haversham Manor, a whodunnit inspired by any number of Agatha Christie thrillers. As created by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields and Jonathan Sayer of Britain’s Mischief Theatre Company, it is a whodunnit, but all that gets lost in the mayhem of a production where absolutely everything goes wrong.

Wrong is directed by Theatre Calgary’s former artistic director Dennis Garnhum, and it is always a treat to watch a director who is in such control of his vision. All the slapstick shenanigans of actors banging into set pieces, acknowledging the audience, overacting, forgetting lines, entering at the wrong times, missing their cues, and constantly trying to repair the set while continuing to act, looks so spontaneous and haphazard, but it is all conceived, choreographed and executed to perfection.

It helps that Garnhum really likes all the characters in this ill-fated production. He isn’t making fun of them but shows what heroes they are for not just closing the curtain and letting everyone go home but struggling valiantly to give the audience the whodunnit they came to see. Garnhum has also crafted a true ensemble, giving the actors their moments to shine but never allowing anyone to hog the spotlight.

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As the scheming lovers, Vanessa Leticia Jette and Andrew Macdonald-Smith are like a vaudeville team, hamming everything up mercilessly, and they know how to milk the audience’s reactions. Jette has a moment when she stares down the audience as they react to the revelation that her character is far younger than she is. Macdonald-Smith uses his limbs to accentuate so much of his dialogue and gleefully reacts to the laughter he receives.

Joel Schaefer is like a windup toy that keeps on going no matter what happens to him and he has a classic death scene inspired by the glorious antics of Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett.

As the butler, who just might have done it, John Ullyatt’s running joke is his mispronunciation of words. He also has a hysterical sequence when he misses his cue and keeps making his co-stars repeat the same scene, each time faster. It’s pure comic pandemonium.

Daniela Vlaskalic plays Krista, who is not only the show’s producer and director but plays the detective who comes in to try to solve the murder with sly confidence, and Alexander Ariate as the betrayed fiance and victim makes up for what he lacks in lines with bombastic physicality.

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The audience also gets to meet the stage crew played by Emily Meadows, Bernardo Pacheco, Honey Pham and Ray Strachan. When Jette’s leading lady is knocked unconscious, Pham and Strachan are reluctantly called in to replace her, and words are inadequate to describe what happens. Pham is at first terrified and bewildered, but when she feels the audience’s love, nothing and no one will get her off that stage. Then Strachan whips up a version that sends the audience into hysterics.

If laughter is a good medicine, The Play That Goes Wrong is a double dose of the very best.

Now for the bad news.

Word of mouth is turning The Play That Goes Wrong into a must-see event. Tickets are already at a premium for some performances, especially in the budget ticket section. There are no provisions for a holdover, because the show is headed for Winnipeg, and it would be very wrong to miss this laugh-a-thon.

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