If the title of a play, film or book was always chosen to succinctly describe its plot, “Titanic” might have been called “Ship Sinks.” Yet the founders of Mischief Theatre in London got straight to the point when they titled their 2012 stage farce “The Play That Goes Wrong.”
That’s exactly what happens in this chaotic play-within-a-play co-written by British students Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields: A well intentioned theater company’s performance of something called “The Murder at Haversham Manor” goes off the rails even before it starts. Then things only get worse. Props are busted. Lines are blown. Cast members take tumbles.
Comparisons to Michael Frayn’s 1982 play-within-a-play farce “Noises Off” are inevitable.
In the words, however, of Jordan Miller, who is co-directing (with Robert Smyth) Lamb’s Players Theatre’s production of “The Play That Goes Wrong,” this pratfalling comedy “is ‘Noises Off’ on steroids.”
Jordan Miller is co-directing Lamb’s Players Theatre’s “The Play that Goes Wrong,” which will open in previews March 27 in Coronado. (Jordan Miller)
Miller knows of what he speaks. He understudied the character of Lloyd Dallas in Lamb’s’ production of “Noises Off” in 2018, which was directed by Smyth. For “The Play That Goes Wrong,” Miller said, “I’m coordinating all of the physical business” while Smyth is “in charge of character development and overall staging of the world that the play is creating.”
Directing all that physical business is “a challenging beast,” said Miller. “My team is great and willing, but it’s definitely not for the faint of heart for actor or director.”
Besides Brian Mackey, who was in Lamb’s’ “Noises Off” cast eight years ago, the ensemble for “The Play That Goes Wrong” includes Mike Sears, Rachael VanWormer, Bryan Banville (who’s also the production’s fight coordinator), Caitie Grady, Geno Carr, Walter Murray and Spencer Gerber.
“Everybody has their own language, both physically and mentally,” Miller said of his cast members. “It’s like working with different musical instruments. I have to figure out how to best play them all together. As a movement director, you spend the first couple of days (in rehearsal) figuring out how everybody’s brains and bodies work and how do I give them material that is their strength.”
Strength and stamina are key in the manic “The Play That Goes Wrong,” which Miller said involves “a lot of timing. It’s a roller coaster – when it starts, it doesn’t stop.”
Lamb’s Players Theatre’s production of “The Play That Goes Wrong” marks its professional premiere in San Diego. Last fall, MiraCosta College staged the play in Oceanside. The blueprints for that staging, similar to that for the original Broadway set from 2017-2019, have been passed over to Lamb’s.
For its production, Miller said, “The Play That Goes Wrong” is not being presented as “tongue-in-cheek” as some theater companies have done.
“Robert and I agreed that the actors in this world are doing their best to put on the best play they can. It’s the sincerity of truth that when things go haywire, that’s what makes it so funny.”
According to Miller someone once said that “Tragedy is when bad things happen. Comedy is when really bad things happen. That is definitely applicable to this piece.”
‘The Play That Goes Wrong’
When: Previews begin March 27. Opens April 1 and runs through May 31. 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 2 and 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays
Where: Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado
Tickets: $48-$98
Phone: 619-437-6000
Online: lambsplayers.org