PCPA Presents THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG Beginning This Month

Get ready for an evening of laughter and chaos as The Play That Goes Wrong takes center stage at the Marian Theatre from June 27 through June 30 and at the Solvang Festival Theater from July 12 through July 28.

Welcome to the opening night of the Cornley Drama Society's newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things quickly go from bad to disastrous. Part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, The Play That Goes Wrong is an Olivier Award-winning smash hit farce and global phenomenon guaranteed to leave you aching with laughter! 

Director Roger DeLaurier notes “After reading the script I was still excited and also a little bit scared, and I mean that in the best possible way. It has been a wonderful challenge for everyone on the project and one which I hope we met with creativity, determination, and a great sense of fun. I don't know about you, but with the state of the world, I'm all in for two hours of hilarity and silliness whose sole aim is the release and relief of laughter.”

DeLaurier describes The Play That Goes Wrong as “a hilarious tribute to the spirit of theatre and theatre-makers. The play stands in a long tradition of British comedy/farce. It has the non-stop pandemonium of a blending of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers crossed with the backstage farce sensibility of a Noises Off. It is a farce of ‘choreographed chaos.' I think it also owes homage to Michael Green's book, The Art of Course Acting. I love that the play was developed by a bunch of drama school friends and that the Mischief Theatre Company first performed the play in a pub and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It has a brash, energetic, mischievous quality as the play careens between the clockwork precision of excellent traditional farce and a sense of the improvised.” 

“We should recognize the characters, setting and plotline from the familiar genre of murder mystery and writers like Agatha Christie and P. D. James. The Cornley Drama Society stands in for a long tradition of British amateur theatre production and the passionate amateurs who are so deeply invested in the idea that “the show must go on.” Enjoy!”- Roger DeLaurier 

The creative team includes Director Roger DeLaurier, Costume Designer Thomas J. Bernard, Lighting Designer Jennifer ‘Z' Zornow, Scenic Designer Jason Bolen, Sound Designer Tony Angelini, Associate Director Kristina Melsheimer, Voice/Dialect Andrew Philpot, Fight Director Mark Booher, Movement Director Joe Gallina, and Stage Manager Jack D. Myles*.

The hilarious cast includes Andrew Philpot* as Chris Bean/Inspector Carter, Erik Stein* as Robert Grove/Thomas Colleymoore, Don Stewart* as Dennis Tyde/Perkins, Cameron Vargas as Max Bennett/Cecil Haversham/Arthur the Gardener, Christen Celaya* as Sandra Wilkinson/Florence Colleymoore, Toby Tropper as Jonathan Harris/Charles Haversham, Madison Shaheen as Annie Twilloil, Jonathan Valerio as Trevor Watson, Courtney Ekstrom, Hunter Oehlschlaeger, and Victor Meneses as Stagehands.

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