Dramatists Play Service has made a one-act version of The Play That Goes Wrong available for licensing to colleges and high schools. The release was formally announced today by the work’s creators in a video at the virtual International Thespian Festival, which is being held online through June 26.
Written by Mischief Theatre Company’s Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong follows the antics of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and their attempts to perform a 1920s murder mystery. As the title suggests, nearly everything that could go wrong does, and the brave actors and technicians struggle to reach the performance’s final curtain.
The work premiered in London in 2012, transferring to the West End in 2013 and again in 2014, where it is scheduled to resume performances once theatres are allowed to re-open. The production hit Broadway in 2017, moving to Off-Broadway’s New World Stages in 2019. The work went on to inspire a number of spin-offs, including Peter Pan Goes Wrong in London’s West End and the TV series The Goes Wrong Show on BBC One.
“Dramatists Play Service is thrilled to embark on our new relationship with Mischief and hilarious, wonderful writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields with The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong,” says Dramatists Play Service President Peter Hagan. “This play, to be produced solely by schools, will be the first of many Goes Wrong titles.”
“We are delighted to work with Peter and his team to share our unique brand of comedy and spread laughter across America,” adds Lewis, Sayer, and Shields. “We look forward to seeing the ingenuity and creativity of American schools applied to the world of Goes Wrong.”
For more information including some territorial restrictions, visit Dramatists.com.
