Theatre production 'The Play That Goes Wrong' opens at TNM

The Play That Goes Wrong, a British farce in which an amateur theatre troupe's performance of a classic murder mystery unravels into pure chaos, has opened at Théâtre du Nouveau Monde in a new French adaptation.

Written in 2012 by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre, the play was adapted to French by Normand Chouinard and directed by André Robitaille, who must honor the original London staging by Mike Bell. The production has already proven its formula works — the creators have launched subsequent "goes wrong" shows across multiple genres.

The stage erupts in catastrophe: doors jam, props fall from walls, the floor collapses, fire breaks out, actors muddle their lines. When one actress is knocked unconscious, the stage technician steps in to continue. When the original actor returns, chaos multiplies. The cast — Fabien Cloutier as Inspector Carter, Rémi-Pierre Paquin in a role showcasing comic genius, and Pierre-François Legendre, who understands that restraint serves farce — executes the choreography with precision. A New York critic compared their performance to synchronized swimming.

The cast sometimes tips into overshooting, however. The play's absurdity demands exaggeration — these fictional amateurs are earnest about their failing craft, not proud of it. While surjoyed mimicry and lazzis (physical comedy bits) work within farce's register, the intensity could ease without losing the chaos. Robitaille leans into winking, slapstick, and coarseness when the same registral register, with dialed-down intensity, would serve the material.

What makes the piece endure is its fragility. "One false step, and it's death!" as one comedian says. The beauty of live theatre is that risk — and this production, despite its stumbles in tone, captures that vulnerability entirely.