If there wasn’t already a movie entitled Everything Everywhere All at Once, the play I saw last night could have borrowed its title. Instead, it’s called The Play That Goes Wrong, now playing at the Arts Club’s Granville Island Stage.
After months of preparation, the Cornley Drama Society is finally ready for opening night of The Murder at Haversham Manor. Surely everything will go to plan. Right?
Well… everything goes wrong – exactly as planned.
The actors miss their cues, props fall apart, the set malfunctions, and the one who’s supposed to be dead keeps moving. It’s classic slapstick comedy madness, and the audience around us seemed to love every minute of it.
Comedy is all about timing. Slapstick is one of the hardest forms of comedy because making chaos look effortless takes perfect timing. It isn’t about things going wrong – it’s about making every wrong thing happen at exactly the right moment. Making something so carefully rehearsed look completely accidental is no easy feat.
The best slapstick brings to mind legends like Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, and of course, Charlie Chaplin. Making utter chaos look effortless is one of the hardest things an actor can do.
The cast of The Play That Goes Wrong deserves credit. Pulling off this level of choreographed chaos night after night can’t be easy, and they execute it with impressive precision.
That said, this style of comedy just wasn’t for me. After the first few laughs, I found the constant barrage of mishaps and mayhem became repetitive rather than funnier. Judging by the audience around us, many people were thoroughly entertained, so if you’re a fan of broad slapstick comedy, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it. My friend and I, however, left feeling that less might have been more.
Sometimes it’s not about whether a show is good – it’s about whether it’s your kind of funny. Judging by the audience around us, this one found its fans. My friend and I just weren’t among them.
June 18–August 16, 2026
Lindsay Family Stage at Granville Island
For Tickets:
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
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