The Play That Goes Wrong

The Play That Goes Wrong at Spencer Theatre At Kansas City Repertory Theatre

The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society has a problem: their leading corpse won't stop moving. Worse, the manor walls won't stay upright, doors refuse to open on cue, and actors keep blanking on their lines during what should be a dignified 1920s murder mystery called The Murder at Haversham Manor. What these determined amateurs lack in polish, they make up for in sheer stubborn commitment to finishing the show.

The Play That Goes Wrong at Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Spencer Theatre gives you two comedies running simultaneously. On one level, there's a traditional whodunit with suspects, clues and a body in the drawing room. On another, there's the unraveling disaster as furniture collapses, props vanish and the cast scrambles to paper over each new catastrophe. Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, this physical comedy finds its biggest laughs in the gap between theatrical ambition and onstage reality.

Director Stuart Carden stages a production built around escalating mishaps that would break most theater companies. But the Cornley players soldier on, inventing increasingly desperate workarounds when the set becomes an obstacle course. Watching these characters refuse to surrender makes the chaos feel earned rather than random.

You get a double pleasure: the satisfaction of tracking the murder plot alongside the joy of watching everything else fall spectacularly apart. Grab your tickets and let someone else's theatrical nightmare become your evening out.