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| Reactions to the death of Charles vary in the play within a play. (Mark Kitaoka photo) |
True to its title, almost everything that can go wrong
does in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” presented by Hillbarn Theatre &
Conservatory.
Written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields and Jonathan
Sayer, the subject play is “The Murder at Haversham Manor” presented by an
English theater company, the Cornley Drama Society.
The murder victim is Charles Haversham, who is
apparently murdered in the night of a party celebrating his engagement to
Sandra.
There’s no shortage of suspects, including his
brother, his butler, Sandra’s brother and even the inspector supposedly
investigating the crime.
Along the way almost everything goes wrong. Even as
the audience is arriving, two stagehands try to attach a mantel piece that
refuses to stay put.
After that, actors flub their lines or overact, props
aren’t where they’re supposed to be, an elevator acts up, even an upstairs
study breaks loose while two actors are on it. The dead man won’t quite stay
dead.
Nevertheless, the actors improvise and muddle their
way through the show.
When Sandra disappears, for example, the stage manager
replaces her and reads her lines in a monotone until the script is knocked out
of her hands and out of order.
By the time the finale draws near, everything has
descended into chaos.
In the Hillbarn program, one first sees the Cornley
cast and crew listed. A few pages later, the Hillbarn cast and crew are named.
In the Cornley version, Chris Bean has multiple duties
ranging from playing the inspector to directing and designing the entire
production and even handling press duties.
In the Hillbarn version, Chris Bean as Inspector
Carter is played by the suave Michael Champlin. Charles, the victim, is played
by Fred Pitts.
His brother, the mugging Cecil, who is having an
affair with Sandra, is played by Andrew Cope. Sandra is played by Lucy Swinson
All of them, along with the other four cast members,
do terrific work.
They have to because it’s not easy to portray
amateurish actors trying to slog their way through a glitch-ridden production,
but thanks to director Steve Muterspaugh, Hillbarn’s artistic director, they
rise to the challenge and then some.
Credit for the uncooperative set goes to Kevin Davies and
Eric Olson. The lighting is by Pamila Gray, sound by Jeff Mockus and costumes
by Nolan Miranda.
So if you want to spend two hours (one intermission)
laughing a lot, see “The Play That Goes Wrong,” which continues through May 17
at Hillbarn Theater, 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City.
For tickets and information, call (650) 867-6411 or
visit www.hillbarntheatre.org.
