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The international hit comedy The Play That Goes Wrong will return to London's Duchess Theatre beginning November 19.
Audience capacity has been reduced to comply with COVID-19 guidelines for social distancing. In addition to hand sanitation, face coverings, and track and trace, other measures will include contactless tickets, temperature testing, and the deep clean and sanitation of the theatre. The authors and the director are also looking at moments in the play in terms of rewrites and restaging to comply with government guidelines.
Producers Kenny Wax and Stage Presence Ltd. said in a statement, "The Play That Goes Wrong has been a tonic for people's spirits since first appearing seven years ago. We know how many thousands of performances have been on stage, how many people have bought tickets, and how many hundreds of people have been employed. Laughter has the power to bring people together across all divides, reduces tensions, and produces joy. And we know how lacking all of those have been these challenging past six months. So we count ourselves fortunate that our show is of a size where it is possible to re-open now, and while playing to the smaller-sized audience that social distancing requires, costs can just about be covered.”
The London company includes David Kirkbride, Ross Green, Ciara Morris, Milo Clarke, Michael Keane, Blayar Benn, Elan James, and Ellie Morris with understudies Tom Bulpett, Oliver Clayton, Antonia Salib, and Jack Michael Stacey. The production is directed by Mark Bell, with set designs by Nigel Hook, costumes by Roberto Surace, lighting by Ric Mountjoy, and sound design by Andy Johnson.
Additionally, the U.K. touring cast will play a limited Christmas season at Theatre Royal Bath, December 17-January 10, 2021.
Co-written by Mischief Theatre company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong introduces The Cornley University Drama Society, which is attempting to put on a 1920s murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong does as the accident-prone thespians battle on against all odds to get to their final curtain call.
The Play That Goes Wrong began performances on Broadway March 9, 2017, playing 27 previews and 745 performances. The play subsequently played Off-Broadway's New World Stages. The Broadway production received the 2017 Tony Award for Best Set Design.
