The Play That Goes Wrong (High School Edition)
by Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis

Broadway Off-Broadway West End Off-West End
The Play That Goes Wrong (High School Edition) Book Cover
The Play That Goes Wrong (High School Edition) Cover

Highlights

120 mins Present Day Interior Set Period Costumes Comedy

Awards & Recognition

Olivier Award

Winner! 2015 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy

Synopsis

From Mischief, Broadway masters of comedy, comes this smash-hit farce.

Welcome to opening night of the Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor , where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous.

This 1920s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show: an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines).

Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences!

Part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, this Olivier Award-winning comedy is a global phenomenon that’s guaranteed to leave you aching with laughter!

The Play That Goes Wrong is a farcical, murder mystery, play-within-a-play, conceived and originally performed by award-winning company Mischief – now adapted specially for high school performers.

Professional Artwork Available for Your Production of The Play That Goes Wrong (High School Edition) Concord Theatricals has collaborated with Subplot Studio to create high-quality artwork that complies with your license.

Promoting your show has never been easier!

Learn more at Subplot Studio .

Press Reviews

"Tremendously silly, and brilliant…a two-hour explosion of physical comedy, malapropisms, and knockabout satire."

— The Daily Beast

"Hilarious, nonstop pandemonium. The Play That Goes Wrong is just right: a ridiculously entertaining disaster."

— Entertainment Weekly

"An unexpected, gut-busting hit...it starts off punch-drunk and just keeps getting drunker."

— The New York Times

Characters

Character
Stage Crew

The Cornley Drama Society stage crew.

Trevor (Or Taylor, If Female)

The company’s lighting and sound operator. American accent.

Chris (Short For Christine, If Female)

The head of the drama society. Directed the play and plays Inspector Carter.

Jonathan

Plays Charles Haversham.

Robert (Or Rachel, If Female)

Plays Thomas Colleymoore (or Mary Colleymoore.)

Dennis (Or Denise, If Female)

Plays Perkins.

Max

Plays Cecil Haversham and Arthur the Gardener.

Sandra

Plays Florence Colleymoore.As with any play-within-a-play, you have the complication of the characters of the actors doing the play-within-the-play and the characters within the play-within-the-play. A crucial thing to remember when performing this piece is to tell the story of The Murder at Haversham Manor. That is what the actors of Cornley are setting out to do and as such should be what the cast of The Play That Goes Wrong are setting out to do. The characters of the actors you will no doubt work on in detail, but their temperaments and flaws should shine through the cracks in their performances and not suffocate the action. Always try to tell the murder mystery story and play the Haversham Manor characters.

Annie

The company’s stage manager. American accent.

Publication

ISBN-13 9780822242215
ISBN-10 0822242214

The Play That Goes Wrong (High School Edition) is a comedy play written by Henry Shields and published by Dramatists Play Service .

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Rating

4.5

28 ratings · 52 reviews

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Performance Rights

Available for Licensing
Amateur Only
Fee: Minimum Fee: $130 per performance
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