Rock Island’s Circa ’21 Begins ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ This Weekend
For the final production of the venue’s sensational 44th season, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse will proudly stage the area debut of one of the funniest slapstick comedies of modern times: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG. Running at the Rock Island dinner theatre through March 12, this Tony Award-winning riot was described by the New York Times as “a knockabout farce” and is being brought to life by a spectacular team of professional talents.
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG will be presented on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:45 p.m., Sundays at 5:45 p.m. and beginning Feb. 16, Wednesday matinées at 1:30 p.m. Pre-show entertainment featuring the theatre’s wait staff, The Bootleggers, also will precede all performances. Ticket prices are $56.55 for the evening productions and $49.73 for the matinées.
Reservations are available through the Circa ’21 ticket office. For reservations, contact the theatre at 1828 Third Ave., Rock Island or by calling 309-786-7733 ext. 2.
Written by Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis and Henry Shields, THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG welcomes patrons to opening night of community theatre troupe the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s, whose newest production is the Agatha Christie-like 1920s mystery The Murder at Haversham Manor. Events in the show – and the show-behind-the-show – are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. The set, props, lighting and sound thwart the performers at every turn and eventually, a few of these semi-amateur thespians, demoralized by disaster, go rogue. It’s a stage manager’s worst nightmare but an audience’s cue for laughter!
With an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead and actors who trip over everything (including their lines), the accident-prone participants battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain in a work lauded by the Los Angeles Times for “the hilarity of a troupe that unfailingly turns can-do into can-don’t!”
Directing THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG for Circa ’21 is venue veteran, Warner Crocker, whose other Rock Island productions have included “The Savannah Sipping Society,” “Shear Madness,” “Mama Won’t Fly” and the musical version of “The Bridges of Madison County.” With cast members Elsa Besler, Martin Flowers, and Ben Nickols making their Circa ’21 debuts, the rest of the ensemble is composed of returning performers Bobby Becher “Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn,” Derrick Bertram “Newsies,” Savannah Strandin “Beehive: The ’60s Musical,” Tristan Tapscott “Kinky Boots” and TJ Besler “The Church Basement Ladies.”
The team of on and off-stage techies, include Emmett Boedeker, Sam Flipp and Khalil Hacker. The rest of the creative team include stunt director DC Wright, scenic designer Susie Holgersson, costume designer Greg Hiatt, scenic engineer Kris Eitrheim, production manager Jeremy Littlejohn, lighting designer Heather Hauskins, technical director Nick Divarco, sound designer Sam Ramont and stage manager Kendall McKasson.
Circa ’21’s entire staff is thrilled to be bringing this uproarious theatrical slapstick to the stage in its area debut and urges audience members to make immediate reservations for this wonderful wintertime treat. Call the Circa ’21 ticket office at 309-786-7733 Ext. 2 for reservations and experience the merriment, madness and (intentional) mistakes of the Tony-winning THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG.
