Latest news with #PlayThatGoesWrong
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Backstage drama feeds the comedy in ‘The Understudy'
'We are always looking for new collaborators,' says Elias, 'but they have to be ready and willing to roll with the punches.' Advertisement The company, which is also distinguished by its 'pay-what-you-can' policy for all performances (which keeps their productions accessible), mounts three productions each season, two in the fall and winter at the Boston Center for the Arts and one during the summer at Club Café. Advertisement ''The Understudy' is our fifth summer production here,' says Elias. 'It's a fun place with a great vibe, and the Club Café staff have been wonderful partners. The room encourages us to create a more immersive theater experience for our audiences.' And while the Club Café space doesn't have the bells and whistles of traditional theaters (there's a limited lighting grid and no wing space), award-winning actor and director Paula Plum, who has worked with the company since their inaugural season, says Hub has a team that makes magic happen. 'Lighting designer Emily Bearce has worked wonders with limited instruments, Justin Lahue has created evocative projections for the walls of the theater, and Peyton Tavares's set is very flexible,' she says. ''The Understudy' has a kind of 'Play That Goes Wrong' vibe,' says Elias, 'so our creative solutions to three set changes and exits and entrances through the audience add to the fun.' The action takes place at an understudy rehearsal on the stage of the Broadway premiere of a newly discovered play by Franz Kafka. Jake (Cristhian Mancinas-García) is a B-list action film actor trying to boost his credibility with the Broadway gig. He shares the stage with the never-seen Bruce, a megastar who makes 10 times Jake's salary. Harry (Kevin Paquette), an actor struggling to find work, has been cast as Bruce's understudy, but also happens to have jilted the stage manager weeks before their wedding six years ago. 'I have been so excited by the on-stage chemistry between the two men,' Plum says. 'That's not always something you can predict, but Cristhian is very skilled at physical comedy and Kevin's reactions increase the humor.' Advertisement As the characters work through the scenes in the absurdist Kafka play (which appears to be a cross between 'The Castle' and 'The Trial') the two build a begrudging friendship. This places even more pressure on Roxanne, who is trying to stay calm through the chaos created by a stoned board operator while navigating the emotional upheaval caused by Kevin's appearance and Jake's interest in her. Rebeck's script doesn't shy away from drama with a capital D, and the absurdity of a life in the theater. Plum says that beneath the humor lies real insight into 'what it really means to deal with an acting career. There's a lot of heartbreak and disappointment,' she says. A speech where Harry claims he's not bitter 'exposes all the anxiety and neuroses of lots of actors.' Navigating all the emotional extremes might seem to demand a firm directorial hand, but Plum says she follows her instincts, and Elias describes it as 'adjusting the barometer.' 'Really,' says Plum, 'when you have great actors, my role becomes making sure the technical aspects of the play work smoothly.' As she looks ahead to more Hub seasons, Elias says three shows a year feels right, despite growing audience interest in Hub's work. 'In the early days, people would come to the show because they knew someone in it, 'she says. 'Now, more and more, I'm seeing repeat customers, people who came to one show and want to see what we are doing next. That's gratifying.' That word-of-mouth success is something that anyone would be lucky to understudy. THE UNDERSTUDY Presented by Hub Theatre Company of Boston, at Club Café, 209 Columbus Ave, Boston, July 19-Aug. 2. Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Audiences receive 20% off Club Café food bill. Advertisement
Sydney Morning Herald
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Don't overthink it: This silly show may be what we need right now
THEATRE The Play That Goes Wrong Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House June 24 Reviewed by CASSIE TONGUE ★★★½ It started in a 60-seat theatre above a London pub, and then took over the world. The Play That Goes Wrong – a farce about an amateur theatre troupe attempting to stage an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery – is that rare thing in contemporary theatre: a raging commercial smash. This family-friendly show has been running in the West End for more than a decade and in Spain for almost as long, sparked a plethora of British 'Goes Wrong' TV series and specials, and has played all over the world. It's now back in Australia, wreaking havoc at the Sydney Opera House, after a buzzy 2017 debut. The Play That Goes Wrong veers wildly off script. Credit: Hagen Hopkins The show is fast-paced, silly, and engineered to wring every laugh it can out of its material: as the company tries to perform their serious murder mystery, they're contending with mislaid props, actors who don't know their lines (or can't pronounce them) and technicians too busy scrolling to land the right music cue. There are pratfalls, missed cues, and a set that's threatening to come down around the cast at any moment. Who did the murders? We find out eventually, but that's not the point: the point is the carefully scripted chaos. Originally directed by Mark Bell, overseen here by associate director Anna Marshall, and with a cast (which includes Aunty Donna's Joe Kosky) who have settled into their roles during this Australia/New Zealand tour, it's a polished piece that encourages scenery-chewing. There's so much to laugh at that it'll catch even the sourest audience member at least once, but you'll get the most out of it if you like your mayhem surface level and easily digestible. There's not much pathos behind all the comedy, meaning that existential human bent of the greatest farces is nowhere to be found. Instead, this is pure escapist comedy: a series of gags, mostly physical, designed to delight. The cleverest jokes are those feats of engineering, mechanics and rigging when the set itself 'goes wrong'; there's a collapsing set piece that adds the frisson of danger that propels farces to another level. The worst were dated in 2017 and feel ancient now, where the two women onstage are reduced to stereotypes of hysteria and jealous competition, and a moment a potential kiss between two men in the middle of a casting mishap is played for panic. Designed to add to the growing hysteria of a falling-apart production, these elements drag down the mood, more noise than joke. Am I guilty of overthinking a simple-pleasure comedy? Probably. And I don't want to discount the power this show could have to give kids (recommended for those aged eight and up) their chance to be bitten by the theatre bug, or to give audiences of any age a chance to blow off steam in an increasingly dark world by just having a reason to laugh. That's probably the best lens through which to view this play: it's a daffy, low-stakes outing that just wants you to cackle – or at least crack a smile – and get those feel-good endorphins flowing.
