Review Roundup: The National Tour Of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

The Play That Goes Wrong launched its First National Tour on Wednesday September 19th in Pittsburgh. Take peek at photos from the opening performance and party and some production shots below. From Pittsburgh the tour continues on to Hartford, CT, Greenville, NC, and Nashville, TN. Check out the show's website for the full tour route.

Co-written by Mischief Theatre company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong is a riotous comedy about the theatre. The play introduces The 'Cornley University Drama Society' who are attempting to put on a 1920s' murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong...does, as the accident-prone thespians battle on against all odds to get to their final curtain call.

Entertainment Weekly calls The Play That Goes Wrong "Hilarious! Non-stop pandemonium." The Huffington Post calls it "The funniest play Broadway has ever seen!" And the New York Post says it's "Broadway's funniest and longest-running play! Nothing is as fall down funny. GO."

The Broadway production of The Play That Goes Wrong opened at the Lyceum Theatre on April 2, 2017. The show, which was slated to close on Broadway in August of this year, will extend its run due to popular demand through January 6, 2019. By then, the Broadway production will have played 27 previews and 745 performances, making it the 2nd longest running show in the history of the Lyceum Theatre. The Play That Goes Wrong received a Tony Award for Best Set Design, Broadway.com's Audience Choice Award for Best Play, and the Theater Fans Choice Award for Best Play.

Awarded the 2015 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, 2014 WhatsOnStage Best New Comedy and 2015 UK BroadwayWorld Best New Play Awards, The Play That Goes Wrong is now in its fourth year in the West End, is currently on a 30 week UK tour and playing on six continents. The producers have avoided Antarctica for fear of a frosty reception.

It is a remarkable rags-to-riches story for a play which started its life at a London fringe venue with only four paying members of the public at the first performance, and has gone on to play to an audience of over 2 million people around the world.

Mischief Theatre, the Olivier Award-winning theatre company led by Artistic Director Henry Lewis and Company Director Jonathan Sayer, was founded in 2008 by a group of graduates of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and began as an improvised comedy group. Mischief Theatre performs across the UK and internationally with improvised and original scripted work.

The Play That Goes Wrong tour is directed by Matt DiCarlo with original Broadway direction by Mark Bell, featuring set design by Nigel Hook, lighting design by Ric Mountjoy, sound design by Andy Johnson and costume design by Roberto Surace.

The Play That Goes Wrong is produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum, J.J. Abrams, Kenny Wax, Stage Presence Ltd., Catherine Schreiber, Ken Davenport, Double Gemini Productions / deRoy-Brunish, Damian Arnold / TC Beech, Greenleaf Productions / Bard-Roth, Martian Entertainment / Jack Lane / John Yonover, and Lucas McMahon.

Let's see what the critics have to say!

Megan Miller, Times Online: It's hard not to compare it to Monty Python, but even though the play deviates from the typical production that crosses the Benedum Center stage, it certainly has a Broadway caliber. Sometimes downright silly, "The Play That Goes Wrong" is smart, and lands some punches, keeping the audience laughing from the first fail until the final curtain call.

Dylan Shaffer, BroadwayWorld: The Play That Goes Wrong is wildly entertaining and rarely does the comedy feel too drawn out or overdone. The right mix of physical and verbal comedy blends together harmoniously to create a hilarious piece of theater. A little less frequently are comedies performed at the Benedum, so get out and experience the laughter for yourself.

Sharon Eberson, Post Gazette: As the chaos mounts on stage during the course of the play, Toronto native Evan Alexander Smith as Cornley lead actor/director Chris Bean tries desperately to keep it all from going wrong as the inspector who comes to Haversham to solve the murder mystery. The lanky Mr. Smith delivers a bad actor's ideal of a classic British leading man, who is watching his world crumble around him. At one point he begs the audience to stop laughing at all the chaos, eliciting laughter with every plea to desist.