Review Roundup: PETER PAN GOES WRONG Opens In Los Angeles

Peter Pan Goes Wrong is running now at Center Theater Group's Ahmanson Theater. Read reviews for the production below!

Direct from its limited Broadway engagement, Mischief’s international comedy sensation Peter Pan Goes Wrong began its West Coast premiere on August 8 and continues performances through September 10, 2023. 

The team behind the Tony Award®-winning global hit “The Play That Goes Wrong,” which played at the Ahmanson in 2019, brings its trademark comic mayhem to the J.M. Barrie classic “Peter Pan.” Co-written by Mischief company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” is a highly physical comedy packed with finely-tuned and inspired slapstick, delivered with split-second timing and ambitious daring stunts. 

The Cornley Drama Society returns to the Ahmanson, battling technical hitches, flying mishaps, and cast disputes as they attempt to present J.M. Barrie's much-loved tale. But will they ever make it to Neverland? 

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Harker Jones, BroadwayWorld: Ten years ago, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields launched their own take on Barrie’s play (in the vein of their previous show, “The Play That Goes Wrong”) with their outrageous musical comedy PETER PAN GOES WRONG, in which a theater troupe attempts to put on the story of the titular sprite and, well, everything goes wrong (actors talk over each other, a spotlight misses the performers, the crew fixes the set while the show is being enacted). The result is the most Fractured of Fairy Tales, a raucous sitcom on steroids that is uproariously funny as it barrels along at light speed, nabbing Olivier, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Drama League Award nominations along the way.

Chris Willman, Variety: How right does all this wrongfulness go? Pretty right… or at least you’re likely to think so if you are naturally prone to laugh at the age-old conceit of chaos running like clockwork. If it sounds too exhausting or silly to be your thing, there is no shame in sitting this one and waiting for “Hadestown” to occupy the same space in six weeks. 

Charles McNulty, The Los Angeles Times: It’s August, and our brains are sluggish if not completely shut off. “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” wouldn’t be my choice for a theatrical beach-read, but the ensemble members of Mischief are maestros of their misbegotten trade.

Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly: Backstage hijinks are nothing new (see: Noises Off), but the Mischief company continually finds ways to raise the bar, reminding us that in the best of cases, a night at the theater can be an awfully big adventure. Grade: B+

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