Freezing Up, a Swapped Suitcase, an Animal Attack and More: The Peter Pan Goes Wrong Cre

This article first appeared as part of Jenelle Riley’s Acting Up newsletter – to subscribe for early content and weekly updates on all things acting, visit the Acting Up signup page.

Live theater is already a rush but there’s something extra exhilarating when something goes wrong. Nobody knows this better than The Mischief Theatre Company, which began in 2008 as an improvisational group before launching a global franchise of plays, specials and series focusing on performances that go horribly awry. Their smash hit “The Play That Goes Wrong” has been running in London since 2012, having also transferred to Broadway and toured the world. And now the mischief makers are back in Los Angeles with the West Coast premiere of “Peter Pan Goes Wrong,” playing at the Ahmanson Theater through Sept. 10. For tickets and information, visit www.centertheatregroup.com.

Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields and directed by Adam Meggido, “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” uses J.M. Barrie’s classic “Peter Pan” as a launching point for The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society (the fictional theater group in “Play Goes Wrong”) to experience another unmitigated disaster. Actors aren’t prepared, pyrotechnics and stunts don’t go off as planned and backstage relationships come to light over the course of the play within the play, all pulled off by Mischief’s remarkable cast, many of whom are reprising their original roles. They’ll also be joined by guest stars Bradley Whitford and Daniel Dae Kim, who will trade off as the show’s Narrator during its L.A. run.

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Given that there are so many possible things that can go wrong onstage, I asked some of the show’s creative team about their own personal bests (or worsts) while performing.

A common actor’s nightmare is not knowing one’s lines or drawing a blank. Ellie Morris, who plays reluctant actor Lucy in the show, had this happen to her in one of her first improv shows.
“We were doing a murder mystery. The structure is that at the end, once the characters are all dead, the detective does this amazing summing up of the entire plot. It’s a big centerpiece. But I just froze, I froze so bad. My eyes were filling with tears, I had nothing. And I remember looking around, everyone else on stage was dead but me and one other person. And he saved me. Now I’m a bit more experienced, I think I would deal with it better. It was one of my first shows.”

Matthew Cavendish plays Max, who doubles as Michael Darling and the Crocodile in the show-within-the-show, also lived out another actor’s nightmare.
“When I was about 17, I was doing a production of ‘Kiss Me Kate.’ I was wearing a robe that would get pulled off me. So I was supposed to wear these Shakespearean britches that go over my tights. But it was getting really hot, and I thought I would wait to put on the britches, I would just wear the tights under the robe for the first part. Then when I go off, I’d put the britches on before the next scene. But I got to chatting in the wings one day and I when I went on stage, as the dresser took my robe off, I realized that I hadn’t put the britches on. I was just wearing a pair of tights and a vest. In front of 400, 500 people including friends and family. They were a darkish tone so I’m hoping the majority of my modesty was concealed. I’ve never actually asked anyone how much they saw.”

One of the show’s writers, Henry Lewis, has a favorite memory of a mishap that mercifully didn’t involve himself.
“My first brush with something going wrong was when I was nine or 10 years old, and our school had a Harvest Festival. It’s an assembly and people bring food and stuff to donate. Once class did a play about littering and they came on stage with a picnic basket and rug and start to pull things out of the hamper. One boy asked for a packet of crisps and the person looks in the basket and a look of horror comes over their face. They take out a black leather belt and hand it over and the boy pretends to eat the belt like it’s the crisps. Another boy asks for chocolate and the poor kid looks in and takes out a pair of men’s trousers. Eventually a man’s whole suit and hat were distributed to everybody, and they got through the scene as best they could. Then the guest speaker came out do to the final address and he says, ‘Apologies, everyone. Apparently, some of my luggage got confused with one of the props for the play.’ Everyone found it hilarious, and it was my first brush with people appreciating something going wrong.”

Though he plays Gill in “Peter Pan,” Ryan Vincent Anderson played Trevor in “The Play That Goes Wrong” Off Broadway — where things did indeed go wrong.
“The character Trevor wears a wallet chain on his pants, which never gave me trouble before. But there’s a moment where he gets knocked out and lays on the ground for several minutes. One of the floorboards is a trick floorboard that pops up and hits someone in the face. So it had a little space — you needed a spot to access the mechanics below. My chain fell through that little hole and got wrapped around something. So, I tried to get up, and I’m tethered to the floor. In these shows it’s so important to be where you need to be at the right time, and I was coming up on a scene where I say a little line and leave before a vase gets thrown across the room and splatters. But I can’t get up. So I say my little line from the floor. Then another character jumps down to help me and I finally get free, but I get up and immediately have to duck because there’s a vase going through the air.”

Greg Tannahill, who plays Peter Pan, also had a mishap during “The Play That Goes Wrong.”
“In that show, there is an upper level of the set that is supposed to collapse. It collapses in three stages, actually, so it drops a little bit, then more, then more. But one time it didn’t drop the right way for me. And I had a big trust swing. And when the upper level is still up, I can’t swing from it. So what do you do? At the time, I just came through the door and decided to fall off the platform. I pretended to slip and just rolled off it. Thankfully I landed okay, but it did knock the wind out of me a little bit. It also probably didn’t look as good as it did in my head.”

Playing Trevor, the head technician who often gets pulled onstage, Chris Leask actually found one of his biggest snafus happened in “Peter Pan Goes Wrong.”
“At one point in the show, I have to do some flying. And I have two wires on both hips, and one snapped off while I was doing the flying scene. I suddenly was dangling upside down. Usually, we have an automated system so I can never drop. But at that time, it was somebody just holding my weight — this was the old days, we had less money. And they just let go. So I was vertical one moment and then landed on my rib. Now, we’ve been doing these shows a long time, so actors often take on the mentality of the character. The stage manager walked on to put me back in the rig and I said, ‘I ain’t going back up there.’ Problem is, I was supposed to do another flying stunt and end up unconscious, so I had to find a way to justify passing out. I basically climbed on a stool and then kicked it out from under myself. But then I hit my other rib on the table and fell on the floor.”

In addition to being a writer of the show, Jonathan Sayer portrays Dennis in the show — who doubles as Smee and John Darling. He also cites a memorable moment from “Peter Pan Goes Wrong.”
“There’s a moment in the show where all the Darling children are going to fly, and we’re hooked to wires that rip our clothes off. Our clothes are held on by Velcro and such, but they have to have enough integrity to not just fall off before that moment. So when we first did the show in the West End, I had a couple buttons at the top of my shirt and would slowly unhook them as the show goes on. And for whatever reason, one night I forgot to undo the one around my neck. So when the costume got ripped off, it literally pulled me off the ground — I got hung by my neck. I was clawing at it and remember falling. It was one of those things that feels longer than it is, as it felt like a full minute to me. And I remember looking over at my fellow actors expecting to see looks of total concern, but they were wetting themselves laughing at me. The best part was in the show report, they wrote: ‘Mr. Sayer was asphyxiated live onstage. The show continued as normal.’

“Another time I just have to mention was when I was 11 or 12 I was in a site-specific production of ‘Wind in the Willows’ set in a park. I got to step in and play the portly otter, and was in the costume, hiding behind a bush. Then I was attacked by a massive dog that came out of nowhere. It just latched onto me in my costume and wouldn’t let go; it was so upsetting. I remember crying in front of the woman I had a crush on.”

Harry Kershaw, who plays Francis in “Peter Pan Goes Wrong,” found a real-life mishap worked its way into the actual show.
“There was a moment when we were in tech on Broadway, and I was meant to be on stage. But I hadn’t heard that the break was over, and I was talking backstage with Chris, who plays Trevor. And everyone could hear me having this private conversation with my friend. Luckily what I was saying was totally fine — no one’s feelings got hurt. But when I realized I was supposed to be on, I came on stage, and everyone was laughing at me. I didn’t know why. So there’s a moment in the show that’s kind of similar, but we exaggerate the drama of course. I am grateful that what I was saying was nothing important. It would have been awful if I had been talking about something I didn’t want anyone to hear. Luckily, the amount of conflict we have between one another is not great enough for that to happen.”

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Update: 2024-09-29

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