Mischief Theatre's The Play That Goes Wrong will have you crying with laughter

Before 'The Play That Goes Wrong' even starts, something has - fittingly - gone drastically wrong: sound tech guy Trevor is scouring the foyer for missing French bulldog Winston, and asking if any audience members can bark...

Cleverly, the chaos ensues long before the show kicks off; however, what people who are new to Mischief Theatre's hilarious farces might not realise, is that this is all part of the elaborate fourth-wall-breaking narrative.

With the action focusing on an amateur dramatics group performing a murder mystery story, there are plenty of things that can go disastrously off piste - and (largely due to the implied low budget) they do.

The set design - correctly summarised with a knowing wink by Trevor as a “death trap” - is extravagant and grand, but made for all manner of mishaps.

Although it’s perhaps unintended, the range of characters brought to life on stage seems to resemble the various suspects in the famous board game Cluedo: Florence is ditzy flirt Miss Scarlet, while Connolly channels Colonel Mustard.

Expectedly, as per the much-loved TV show, the play is full of slapstick, silly humour - especially the many frantic fast-paced set pieces that achieve belly laughs.

Throughout, the audience is made to feel as immersed in the show as possible (without giving too much away) - but there are several moments that are equal parts bewildering and confusing.

The timing and script is impeccably matched from start to finish (it’s a skill in itself to be able to act so well to portray a bumbling thespian so effortlessly) and there are times when it’s hard to distinguish whether the ‘director’ is truly frustrated at the audience’s interruptions or if its another layer of this play within a play.

Either way, it adds to the surreality of this hilarious production.

'The Play That Goes Wrong' is at the Cambridge Arts Theater until Sunday August 21. Book tickets online.