Review: VWCT play packed with laughs

By DAVE MOSIER

Van Wert Civic Theatre’s newest production, The Play That Goes Wrong, is a true comedy of errors, since just about anything that could go wrong, does in this hilarious British farce.

The premise is that the fictional Cornley Drama Society is putting on its newest play, The Murder at Haversham Manor, with a cast of mostly wannabe stars in its cast and a director who apparently does pretty much everything but ushering in the audience. Not only does each VWCT actor play a character, but they also play a fictional actor as well in this “play within a play” production.

Fortunately (for the audience), nothing goes right with the show, as parts of the set fall down, props aren’t where they’re supposed to be, actors get knocked down — and out -– and others have to cope with the resulting craziness, and stage hands that seem to be nearly part of the cast as they appear regularly in the production when they shouldn’t.

Every member of the VWCT cast is terrific in this side-splitting show, which has as its only drawback that the audience is often laughing so loud one can’t hear the dialogue on stage. Cast members have mastered the pratfalls and other physical comedy, as well as all the manufactured mayhem and craziness that goes with this production.

Justin Courtney, as director Chris Bean, is the lynchpin holding this production together, (if that’s not a gross misstatement, since this play is never meant to be “together” from the start). Courtney plays the director, and is also one of its main characters, Inspector Carter. Courtney, an educational professional who only made his acting debut last year

in a Wapakoneta production, does a great job with his plum roles as the long-suffering director of a production where everything “goes wrong” – and go wrong they do, in a major way.

The actual director of this production, Chad Kraner, has done a masterful job of melding a group of very competent actors into a very incompetent cast trying to ham their way through a thespian disaster of epic proportions.

Kraner also hilariously plays Johnathon Harris, the actor who portrays Charles Haversham, the play’s “murder victim” who seems to have an extremely tough time staying dead.

VWCT veteran Nick Long plays actor Robert Grove and Haversham’s best friend, Thomas Colleymore. Colleymore is also the brother of Haversham’s fiancée, Florence. Colleymore does a wonderful job as he has the unenviable job of pretty much being the straight man for this zany production.

Taylor Hesseling, another VWCT veteran actor, may have the funniest role in this very funny play. As Perkins the butler, Perkins gets some of the funniest lines and action in the play and is particularly funny when he’s trying to read his lines off his hand and mispronounces “façade” and cyanide. His voice is perfect for this role, as he reminds me of little of Andy Devine. One of his funniest scenes comes at the end of the first act when he struggles to remember a line, to the extreme chagrin of the rest of the cast.

Sean Carpenter, a VWCT newcomer who has significant acting experience in other productions elsewhere, is Max Bennett/Cecil Haversham, a mugging ham who plays the victim’s brother, Cecil, who is also having an affair with Charles’ fiancée. He has some great physical comedy moments, including having to pick up a telephone receiver with his foot.

VWCT veteran Amy McConn is actor Sandra Wilkinson, who plays Florence Colleymore, Charles Haversham’s fiancée and Cecil Haversham’s mistress. McConn arguably has the most physical demands of any of the cast as she is twice knocked out, one stuffed into a grandfather’s clock, and then beaten and trussed up by the stage manager, who is thrust into her role when she is knocked unconscious and wants to keep it.

Another acting veteran, Kim Warnecke, plays the stage manager, Annie Twilloil, who is also forced to take the role of Florence when McConn is first knocked unconscious. Warnecke is perfect as the crew member who must use a script to read her lines, but increasingly hams it up as she gets into the role.

In addition to the excellent acting, the set itself plays a huge role in this production, and the clever construction work by Keith Allen, Kraner, John Cramer and Josh England significantly enhance the comedy on stage.

Stage manager Ashley Robert and crew members Alea Rex and Emily Gehle might also be considered actors in this production, since both appear on stage nearly as much as the cast members.

For anyone needing a good laugh — or 20 — this is definitely the production for you. The Play That Goes Wrong has four more performances – this Thursday-Sunday, May 8-11. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m., while the Sunday matinee performance will begin at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at https://vwct.org or by calling 419.238.9689.