Review: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at Kwai Tsing Theatre

 On Saturday evening, The Play That Goes Wrong opened at the Kwai Tsing Theatre, performed by the Chung Ying Theatre Company. Originally conceived by Mischief Theatre, this Olivier Award-winning farce has dazzled audiences on both the West End and Broadway for its ingenious mix of chaos and precision. The Hong Kong staging retains the irresistible slapstick humour and frantic energy of the original while adding local flavour, delighting audiences familiar with British farce and Cantonese comedy alike.

The play follows a Drama Society as they attempt to stage their 1920s murder mystery, The Murder at Haversham Manor. From the moment the curtain rises, disaster strikes—sets collapse, cues are missed, and props go missing. Every possible mishap unfolds with escalating absurdity, yet the troupe’s desperate determination to “keep the show going” fuels much of the hilarity. Beneath the unrelenting physical comedy lies a clever meta-theatrical trick: a celebration of human perseverance through chaos.

The Hong Kong cast delivers strong and spirited performances that keep the energy high throughout the evening. Edmond LO, as the Drama Society’s Director who also plays the role of Inspector Carter, brings infectious enthusiasm to the role, juggling slapstick sequences and spontaneous ad-libs with impeccable comedic timing; while Michael MOK who plays the role of Thomas, shines in moments of manic frustration, drawing laughter each time the character valiantly attempts to salvage a scene gone awry. The ensemble’s chemistry ensures that every accident—intentional or not—lands with rhythm and precision, a testament to tight rehearsal and mature comic control.

Adding to the comic mayhem are Joann CHAN and Nicole LIU as character Florence and stage manager Annie, whose exaggerated earnestness contrasts perfectly against the onstage bedlam, and Hinson WONG as Trevor - the lighting and sound operator, whose deadpan reactions ground the whirlwind of chaos with a dose of dry wit. Together, the cast navigates the increasingly unhinged production with controlled madness, making each collapsing wall or mistimed entrance a source of genuine delight.

Visually, the production offers a feast of calculated disaster. The set and costume design, based closely on the original West End production, perfectly reconstruct the shabby elegance of a country manor. Every wobbling shelf, misaligned door and precarious fixture is meticulously engineered for comedic effect. The lighting design further enhances the humour, deliberately malfunctioning at key moments in a glorious parody of onstage technical mishaps, while maintaining clarity where needed to highlight physical gags and reactions.

What gives this particular version a deeper sense of identity, however, is its localisation for Hong Kong audiences. Selina KAN’s deft translation anchors the adaptation, turning Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields’ original English script into a lively and authentic Cantonese text that preserves its wit while making it culturally resonant. Her translation captures the intricacies of British farce—the rhythm, pacing, and linguistic absurdity—yet transforms them into something wholly local. Combined with well-placed references to Hacken Lee and nods to familiar Hong Kong stage traditions, the humour feels natural, immediate, and distinctly our own.

While the farce’s escalating catastrophes can sometimes feel foreseeable, the sheer joy of watching the chaos unfold never wanes. The Chung Ying Theatre Company’s production of The Play That Goes Wrong is an affectionate triumph of comic control over disorder, capturing the absurd beauty of theatre itself—the idea that even when everything goes wrong, the show, somehow, must go on.