Controlled Chaos | "The Play That Goes Wrong" @ Canyon Theatre Guild

[cahwyguy]

From one CTG to another, so to speak.

Perhaps I should explain. One of the joys of going to a lot of theatre is the ability to compare and contrast productions of the same show. Seeing how a tiny theatre uses its creativity and limited budget to execute the same show as a major presenting house. Sometimes they can pull it off. Sometimes they can’t. Twenty years from now, could someone figure out how to present Hamilton or Wicked in a regional or intimate theatre production without projections and all the fancy stagecraft? It will be interesting to see.

Just under 5 years ago, we saw the touring production of “The Play That Goes Wrong” at the BIG CTG: Center Theatre Group. Center Theatre Group is a major theatre in Los Angeles, with a major budget. Last night, we saw “The Play That Goes Wrong” at the little CTG: Canyon Theatre Guild. Canyon Theatre Guild is a a small community theatre up in Santa Clarita. They’ve been in Santa Clarita (Saugus) for 50 years; they use a mix of community member and folks from the acting community of Los Angeles, and they construct their own sets (unlike organizations like 5-Star, which mount their own productions but rent sets and costumes). The big question was: How would this little theatre do with this show?

For those unfamiliar with the show, the conceit is that a tiny theatre company from the outskirts in England is getting a chance to present a big production of their show “The Murder at Haversham Mansion”. But in the production, everything goes wrong. As I described it back in 2019:

The premise of The Play That Goes Wrong is a simple one: an amateur British theatre company, the Cornley University Drama Society, has been afforded the honour through a British-American Cultural Exchange Program of presenting a play on tour in America: The Murder at Haversham Manor, written by Susie H.K. Brideswell. Unfortunately, during the production, everything that can go wrong during the production does. Miscues. Misplaced props. Non-cooperating sets. Bad actors. Technology issues. Trying to summarize the story is pointless — the story exists only to provide a framework for the mayhem, and the mayhem is so rapid-fire that trying to describe it is (a) impossible, and (b) would destroy the humor.

The show is incredibly funny, especially if you are seeing it for the first time and are unfamiliar with the mayhem. If you’ve seen it before, the mayhem isn’t quite as side-splitting, although there are moments, and individual actors bring unique moments and playfulness to the stage.

What makes the show work is precision. The screw-ups have to be precisely choreographed, the sets have to fail on queue. If this were a real failing production, it wouldn’t be funny. It is the precision of everything here that makes it work. So the big question was: Could little CTG pull it off?

I’m pleased to say that they could, and did.

The mayhem starts pre-show, where the stage crew is wandering around looking for a lost dog, and the program is filled with fake ads from the cast and crew (including one from Cornley’s Premiere Yarn Shop, Act 1 Knit Too, for a scarf pattern (you can get yours too)). It continues on stage where they are attempting to repair the stage before the show. The execution of the show was spot on, with precisely timed humor, great characterizations, and much more.

Special acknowledgement (beyond just the listing in the credits) should go to the set design team: Douglas Holiday and John Alexopoulos (Set Design), Claudia Alexopoulos (Properties and Set Decoration). Special acknowledgement also goes to the stage crew: Chloe Brown and Emily Romero, and the stage managers: Sam Kort and Douglas Holiday. WIthout all those folks this production in particular would fall on its face in an uncontrolled bad way, instead of the precisely executed fall on its face that we got.

The acting team was particularly strong. A few that stand out in my mind are Casey Kassal (Max Bennett), for how he played to the crowd; Ashley Taylor (Annie Twilloil), for her ability to protray a stage crew member forced on-stage; Kayleigh Long (Sandra Wilkinson), for her interplay with the other characters, and Tristan-Teja McDaniel, for his adept physical comedy skills. But all of the actors were really strong.

Special credit also goes to Eduardo Arteaga, who together with co-director Linda Thompson pulled together this mayhem, executed it with the requisite precision, and demonstrated that a community theatre can do just as good of a job of screwing up a play as the big boys.

The Play That Goes Wrong continues at Canyon Theatre Guild through June 29, 2024. Tickets are available through the CTG website. It is running in tandem with Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn; it will be interesting to see how they pull that off. But The Play That Goes Wrong is great, and everyone should go see it (even if you’ve seen it before, just to see how creativity and hard work can achieve the same thing as big budgets).

———

The Play That Goes Wrong. Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields. Presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service under license from Mischief Worldwide Ltd. Directed by Eduardo Arteaga.

Cast: Casey Kassal Max Bennett (Cecil Haversham); Kayleigh Long Sandra Wilkinson (Florence Colleymoore); Spencer Magon Trevor Watson (Lighting & Sound Operator); Brock Markham Jonathan Harris (Charles Haversham); Tristan-Teja McDaniel Robert Grove (Thomas Colleymoore); Tyler Rainer Dennis Tyde (Perkins the Butler); Aaron Ratnayeke Chris Bean (Inspector Carter, Director); Ashley Taylor Annie Twilloil (Stage Manager); Mary Ann Van Sickle Mrs. Belinda Bennett, Producer.

Production and Creative: Linda Thompson Co-Director; Douglas Holiday Co-Set Designer, Asst. Stage Manager; John Alexopoulos Co-Set Designer; Nicole Arteaga Costume Design; Claudia Alexopoulos Properties & Set Decoration; Sam Kort Stage Manager: Brock Markham Fight Choreography / Stunt Coordinator; Chloe Brown & Emily Romero Stage Crew.

Special Notes: Directions © 2013 Mark Bell & Mischief Theatre Ltd; Set Design © 2013 Nigel Hook; Lighting Design © 2013 Ric Mountjoy; Costume Design © 2013 Roberto Surace; Sound Design © 2013 Andy Johnson; Original Compositions © 2013 Rob Falconer.

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending):

• June: ♦ Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ A Strange Loop at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Mrs. Doubtfire at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Come Blow Your Horn at Canyon Theatre Guild; ♦ Radium Girls at Stage Left Productions (Surprise AZ).
• July: ♦ Peter Pan at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ The Sound of Music at 5-Star Theatricals;
• August: ♦ Clue at CTG/Ahamanson Theatre; ♦ Company at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♣ Postmodern Jukebox at The Magnolia, El Cajon.
• September: ♦ Hamilton at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; Cyrano de Bergerac ⊕ at Pasadena Playhouse;
• October: ♦ American Idiot ⊕ at CTG/Taper; ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Season renewals are in process: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; and Pasadena Playhouse are all renewed. We’re looking to see what Chromolume Theatre (which is returning) and Canyon Theatre Guild are planning. Other than that, Jason Alexander will be doing Fiddler on the Roof , directed by Lonny Price, at La Mirada in November.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Controlled Chaos | "The Play That Goes Wrong" @ Canyon Theatre Guild by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.