The Play That Goes Wrong Announces 10th Anniversary Tour Of NZ

13 October 2024

After nearly eight years, it’s time for audiences old and new to be rolling in the aisles as The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempts to stage a 1920s murder mystery where everything goes hilariously wrong.

You all know the classic whodunnit story; there has been a murder at a country manor and an inspector is set on the case to find the culprit. But when these accident-prone thespians take it on, everything that can go wrong…does! The actors and crew battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences!

Who murdered Charles Haversham? You'll have to see for yourself!

Presented by GMG Productions and Stoddart Entertainment Group by arrangement with Mischief Worldwide Ltd, this fan favourite will be causing chaos in Wellington from 19 April ’25 before travelling to Christchurch, New Plymouth and Auckland. Co-inciding with its 10th Anniversary celebrations the show is sure to delight whether you are 9 or 99.

Waitlist today at PlayGoesWrong.co.nz for priority access. Tickets on sale on Thursday, 31 October.

Mischief’s The Play That Goes Wrong opened at the Duchess Theatre, London in September 2014, and this year celebrates its 10th year in the West End. The production shows no signs of slowing down since its first performance at The Old Red Lion Theatre with only four paying customers and has now been performed to over 3.5 million people around the world in every continent except Antarctica.

The show’s many achievements to date include:

• Over 3500 performances of The Play That Goes Wrong at the Duchess Theatre.
• During the West End run members of The Cornley Drama Society have been hit (by objects or each other) more than 125,545 times
• 106 actors have performed in the show’s Duchess Theatre run.
• The show has won 11 awards, including an Olivier, Tony and a Moliere.
• There have been productions of the play in 49 countries and in every continent except Antarctica (where producers fear a frosty reception).
• More than 4,246,481 people have seen the show worldwide, and there have been 7,822 performances in the English language.
• An actor has shouted out for a ledger 54,747 times. (And that's only in English.)
• A total of 58,180 door slams in America alone.
• 8 million people watched the 2015 performance at The Royal Variety Performance, with a further 6.3 million seeing the clip on YouTube.
• 2,607 fire extinguishers have been used to put out fires in The Play That Goes Wrong somewhere in the world in these past ten years.
• Winston the Dog has been successfully located zero times.

"Everything wrong is dead right,” - Sir Roger Hall, NZ Herald

"Sellers, Cleese, Atkinson, Morecambe, Hawtrey, French and Barker would all delight in this precisely-timed comedy of errors … it’s one well-structured riot.” - Michael Hooper, Theatreview

“A ludicrous, raucous & hilarious misadventure where hilarity and calamity collide in the most perfect way.” - Keeping Up With NZ

The Play That Goes Wrong is co-written by Mischief company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields and is directed by Mark Bell, with set designs by Nigel Hook, costumes by Roberto Surace, lighting by Ric Mountjoy, original music by Rob Falconer, sound design by Andy Johnson. The New Zealand season will be directed by Associate Director Amy Milburn.

• Public sales from 31 October with early birds available for sign-ups from 29 October.

Seasons are

Wellington Opera House 19 – 27 April 2025
New Plymouth TSB Showplace 30 April – 4 May 2025
Christchurch James Hay Theatre 6 – 11 May 2025
Auckland ASB Waterfront Theatre 14 May – 1 June 2025

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