Stage Review - The Play That Goes Wrong (Seattle Rep)
Stage Review - The Play That Goes Wrong
Presented By: Seattle Rep - Seattle, WA
Show Run: August 28 - September 28, 2025
Date Reviewed: Wednesday, September 03, 2025 (Opening Night)
Run Time: 2 Hours, 10 minutes (inclusive of a 20-minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
Success can be a double-edged sword. For a theatre, a successful season typically means that it has produced a series of plays and/or musicals that were both well-received by the public and generally praised by critics, while at the same time contributing to the organization’s ongoing financial viability. On the other hand, it also means that the theatre has raised the bar for itself, that to have another and subsequently successful season means that it has to at least match what it’s done before. That is the challenge that Dámaso Rodriguez and Seattle Rep are facing this year. His first full season as artistic director, for my money, was one of the most brilliantly orchestrated conglomerations of the new and familiar, the funny and the challenging, and an ultimately entertaining selection of shows. As we begin a new season, I’m looking forward to what Dámaso and his team have in store this year, a season which includes two world premieres, a special 10th anniversary production of a Tony winning musical that has its roots at the Rep, and a few other surprises. First up, though, is something a little more familiar, The Play That Goes Wrong, directed by Dámaso, and running on stage at the Bagley Wright Theater at Seattle Rep through September 28. It’s a piece that is a showcase for a company, an ensemble-driven play that explicitly relies on both its on stage and off stage cast, crew, and creative team to be successful. And the good news is that Seattle Rep’s staging of The Play That Goes Wrong lives up to its name in the best possible way.
The Play That Goes Wrong is a British farce about an amateur theatre troupe attempting to mount a 1920s murder mystery. The hapless Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society is putting up the play “The Murder at Haversham Manor”, an Agatha Christie-esque whodunit which they are hoping is, at long last, their first success. But rather than a play that hits all of its marks, the “play within a play” turns out to be closer to the board game Mousetrap than the Agatha Christie play of the same name. The resultant production from the Seattle Rep team is equal parts train wreck and triumph, a two-hour reminder that sometimes the most satisfying thing onstage is watching everything fall gloriously apart.
It’s a play that is extremely prescriptive, in many of its aspects. It relies on the set being constructed a specific way, so that that the physicality of its gags each land squarely. Scenic designer Tom Buderwitz delivers the structural heart of the chaos inherent in the story, creating a drawing-room set that collapses, buckles, and mutinies in the most spectacularly timed fashion. And while much of Tom’s design comes from the requirements of the play, it’s the added details that take something proven and make it next level. It’s as though the bones of the play are spelled out while it’s left to the director and his team to add the flavor and the flair to their individual production. To that end, the members of this team each add their own value to this production. Melanie Taylor Burgess’s costumes add period charm, while Connie Yun’s lighting and Rodolfo Ortega’s sound design sharpen every mishap into comic punctuation. And thanks to movement and fight director Brian Danner, the endless pratfalls and tumbles happen safely, if not gracefully.
The real success of this production lies in its sheer commitment to the chaos. From the first misfired cue to the collapsing set pieces, the show’s ensemble, which includes Darius Pierce, Ian Bond, Chris Murray, Darragh Kennan, Cassi Q. Kohl, Setareki, Chip Sherman, and Ashley Song, never lets the momentum slip. Timing is everything in comedy, and is a requirement for this show to work, and here it’s razor-sharp. Each pratfall and misplaced prop lands with precision, and even when the humor skews broad, it rarely feels stale.
The performances from this cast is really where a production like this can distance itself from others. Again, the plot is largely prescriptive, but there is room for improvisation, and for each actor to define the depth of their character’s personality, and each turn in this show is equally impressive. Chris Murray as Cornley’s Max (who in the play within a play is both Cecil Haversham and Arthur the Gardener) is the most adept at playing to the audience. He turns exasperation into an art form, milking every pause and misstep for maximum effect, and he brings a good bit of humor just in the way he speaks, accentuated by his hands. It’s something that has to be seen in order to be truly appreciated. Ashley Song’s physical stamina as Sandra (Florence Colleymoore) is remarkable, building each pratfall into bigger, louder laughs from the audience, and Ian Bond proves to be a master of physical comedy, wringing laughs out of even the smallest bits as Jonathan/Charles Haversham.
As I mentioned previously, The Play that Goes Wrong is truly an ensemble piece, and Darragh Kennan (Dennis/Perkins the butler), Setareki (Robert/Thomas Colleymoore), and Chip Sherman (light and sound operator Trevor) each bring a good deal of humor in their contributions to the group at large, but it’s Darius Pierce (Chris/Inspector Carter) and Cassi Q. Kohl (stage manager Annie) who stand out here. If there is a de facto lead, it’s Darius. His Chris leads the Cornley Drama Society, and his Inspector Carter heads up the investigation in the Haversham Manor. His best, and most humorous work, is when he juggles both of those roles at the same time, especially when the play really starts to go wrong. Cassi, meanwhile, as stage manager Annie, turns every collapsed wall, flubbed line, and runaway prop into a showcase of her comedic ability. Especially as the reluctant emergency understudy, and her plethora of accents, English and otherwise, show her grasp of the comedic tone of the play.
If there’s one criticism with the play, it’s in the repetitive nature of the gags. Once the walls have tumbled and the props run amok, some of the later comedic scenes risk feeling like variations on a theme. Still, the ensemble’s energy never falters, keeping the laughter rolling right to the end.
Ultimately, The Play That Goes Wrong at Seattle Rep delivers exactly what its title promises and more — a night of mayhem, expertly executed. Seattle Rep has engineered a catastrophe that audiences will be delighted to watch collapse night after night, and with this production Dámaso and the theatre have a bona fide crowd-pleaser on their hands, picking up exactly where they left off last season.
The Play That Goes Wrong runs on stage at Seattle Rep in its Bagley Wright Theater through September 28. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.seattlerep.org/
Photo Credit: Bronwen Houck
