Drama Beat
Playgoers of Lethbridge begins celebrating it’s hundredth anniversary with an award winning comedy “ The Play That Goes Wrong,” Feb. 7-11 at the Yates Theatre.
The long standing theatre company marked the inaugural meeting of the group, which happened Jan. 20 at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church , with an open house Jan. 20 at St. Augustines, but they are getting geared up for a busy 2023 with a production of Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis and Henry Shield’s backstage farce.
“It’s still running in London and on Broadway,” said director and Playgoers of Lethbridge president Elaine Jagielski.
“ The Play that Goes Wrong,” is described as a “ hilarious hybrid of Monty Python and Sherlock Holmes” as the cast and crew stage a production of 1920s murder mystery “Murder at Haversham Manor,” in which everything that can possibly go wrong, goes wrong and then some including a corpse that can’t play dead, an unconscious leading lady and a cast that trips on everything including their lines.
“It’s a play within a play. It’s farcical. It takes place on a set. It’s like backstage farces like ‘Noises Off!’ but you don’t really see what is happening backstage, though there are glimpses,” Jagielski continued, noting it has won several awards including Best New Comedy 2015 Laurence Olivier award. It also won a 2017 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design.
“ It is a bit of a challenge. The set is like a ninth character. It’s an entity unto itself,” said Jagielski who is excited to welcome several new faces to Playgoers for this production.
“ We have some new faces. It’s first time on stage for some of them,” Jagielski said.
The cast features Playgoers of Lethbridge veteran Shelly David who
saw the play on Broadway and pitched the idea to Playgoers.
“ I saw it in 2017 on Broadway in New York City. I got a workout, I was laughing so hard in my seat. It was so funny, ” said Shelly David, who plays Annie the stage manager.
“So I brought it to Playgoers,” she continued, adding she is enjoying working with the cast and crew.
