Peter Pan Goes Wrong - Broadway

In 2017, the British Mischief Theatrical troupe brought their uproarious, off-the-wall comedy, The Play That Goes Wrong, to Broadway.  The show ran for over 700 performances (a streamlined production is still playing Off-Broadway).  Their latest endeavor, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, is a worthy successor.  Not as outrageously funny as its predecessor, the show is still full of comedic mayhem and loads of laughs.

 

The three playwrights – Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Fields – who also wrote the previous show and star in the Peter Pan Goes Wrong, have set the play as a production by the Cornley Youth Theatre.  The inept collection of thespians are staging J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.  At least that’s what they start off to accomplish.  From the get go, everything goes wrong, sometimes horribly wrong.  A hallmark of the ensemble is their use of physical and verbal comedy.  There is plenty of both, even before the show officially begins.  Audience interaction is beefed up in the show as members are told to boo Captain Hook and there is a lot of jeering emanating from the theater.  It is a delicate balancing act, especially when some audience members think their call backs and shouts are funnier than the script.  In one very humorous scene, Henry Shields, who portrays the despicable pirate captain, attempts to open a bottle of poison with his hook.  Calling upon his inner John Cleese (of Monty Python fame), he shouts at the audience to “shut up” as he painfully struggles with his task.  What could have been an out-of-control moment turns to triumph for the actor as he solves his dilemma and, with a shrewd maneuver, wins the audience’s approval.

 

What makes Peter Pan Goes Wrong so giddily sidesplitting is how the imaginative (lunatic) minds of the three authors, come up with so many implausible moments.  I would love to be in the writer’s room to see their inventiveness in action.  Director Adam Meggido and the creative team – Scenic Designer Simon Scullion; Lighting Designer Matthew Haskins; Sound Designer Ella Wahlstrom; and the witty and silly original music of Richard Baker and Rob Falconer - are in perfect harmony, fashioning a full-throttled, enjoyable piece of entertainment.  For this show, high wire aerial stunts have been added, to the detriment of the actors performing them, but to the shameless amusement of the audience.

 

The other band of artisans in the production – Chris Leask, Matthew Cavendish, Charlie Russell, Nancy Zamit, Bianca Horn, Greg Tannahill, and Ellie Morris – are fully engaged as they attempt to sort through all the shenanigans and foolishness that comes their way. 

 

As with The Play That Goes Wrong, the scenic design (Simon Scullion) is one of the stars of the show.  More elaborate then The Play That Goes Wrong, the multiple set pieces spin on a rotating platform and implode before our eyes.

 

Peter Pan Goes Wrong, a comical piece of theatrical merriment.