History Theatre / ThePlayThatGoesWrong

'''Chris:''' No, no! We are '''not''' doing that!

'''Audience:''' Yes it is!

** In the Playbill in the Broadway version, there's a note from Chris that states he thinks the production will "bring the house down." Sure enough, the set collapses near the end of the play.

* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals[[invoked]]: It's revealed before the show starts and during the intermission that the dog brought on to play [[EvilDetectingDog Winston]] has gone missing. When the time comes for Arthur (Max) to enter with Winston, he's forced to hold an empty leash and [[SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud make dog noises]] to make up for it (though he doesn't seem to mind).

* FairPlayWhodunnit: The ShowWithinAShow breaks rules 1 and 7, as the audience is allowed to follow the killer's thoughts for one scene, and [[DetectiveMole the detective himself committed the crime.]]

* ClosestThingWeGot: It should come as no surprise that the troupe doesn't appear to have any understudies, so when Sandra is knocked out Annie is forced into her costume and shoved on stage to cover for her.

* AudienceParticipation: Before the play begins and during intermission, Trevor, Annie, and some other actors enter the stalls, looking for [[EvilDetectingDog a dog that's supposed to accompany Max while he's playing Arthur]]. They talk with the audience in character while doing this- for example, if an audience member is eating a chocolate bar, they’ll advise them not to drop it in the event they find the dog. There are plenty of other opportunities too, although the director isn't happy about it- some theatergoers have even reported seeing [[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Nux0iSUmRY4 Robert line up at the concession stand with them.]]

* DetectiveMole: Inspector Carter is revealed to be this in the PlayWithinAPlay. Of course, by the time this revelation is made, absolutely no one cares about the plot of the play anymore. (It doesn't help that Jonathan has jumped his cue to rush onstage with a gun yelling "Not so fast, Inspector!" ''twice'' by this point, which kind of spoils TheReveal.)

* WalkingSpoiler: While portraying the murder victim's corpse, Jonathan quite literally proves to be a walking spoiler when he rushes onstage with a rifle declaring "Not so fast, Inspector!" before he's scripted to do so. And just in case the audience forgets the twists of both [[NotQuiteDead his character's survival]] and [[DetectiveMole the inspector's villainy]], he jumps his cue a second time later on.

** During TheSummation, in addition to a cyanide bottle and a bundle of bank notes, Thomas (Robert) is supposed to pull out a train ticket that Inspector Carter (Chris) purchased with the former's money... only to instead pull out the Music/DuranDuran CD case that Trevor was looking for.

->Emmy and Tony nominee Creator/NeilPatrickHarris...\\

* BookcasePassage: Used to shuffle actors around.
* BringTheAnchorAlong: During the climax, Dennis--who is playing Perkins--is handcuffed to the chaise-longue. He is supposed to be released when Perkins' innocence is established, but this being [[TheShowMustGoWrong the play that goes wrong]], they have lost the handcuff keys. Dennis struggles through the rest of the show carrying the chaise-longue.
* BrokenRecord: When [[TheDitz Dennis]] ends up repeating an earlier line, the other characters begin to loop their dialogue (Causing Robert to repeatedly drink the White Spirit that he keeps spitting out). As the script keeps looping, the actors repeat their lines faster and faster.

* CopiouslyCreditedCreator: Chris, the star of the show, fills many of the credits of the InUniverse program before the real program begins.
* CouldntFindALighter: Dennis, as Perkins, accidentally causes a small fire when he throws a lit cigarette into a coal scuttle full of scotch. Shortly after, Robert tries to put it out with a fire extinguisher, but it already went out on its own, so Dennis is sprayed as a result.

'''Sandra:''' ''(slaps Chris)'' Don't tell ''me'' to calm down!\\

* DisappearingBox: This trick is performed in reverse when Sandra manages to appear ''inside'' the grandfather clock after having been struggling with Annie to get back onstage only seconds beforehand.

** [[TheDitz Dennis]] doesn't have as much trouble with his lines as he would in later productions. He's also appropriately mortified by his own failings, [[TookALevelInDumbass rather than unwittingly dense as he later becomes]], and often acts more along the lines of the Straight Man to his cast-mates wacky shenanigans, whereas later he would become the cast {{Cloudcuckoolander}}.

*** However, this can actually be regarded as CharacterDevelopment, as while Annie grows to enjoy acting more throughout the night, to the point that [[CatFight she violently battles Sandra to keep the role.]] It's not hard to imagine after this play was finished, Annie decided she wanted to act from that point onwards.
*** Likewise, she's far more stilted in her performance, having to rely on a script, (then again she was literally forced into the role of Florence last minute), and much more confrontational, based on her fight with Sandra. By the time she has become an actual actress, she is easily one of the better ones in the company, and far kinder, often helping other actors through their flubs.
** Max is highly uncomfortable playing intimate scenes with Sandra, and seems far more interested in Trevor. By Theatre/PeterPanGoesWrong, he's fallen for Sandra and never shows any hints of being gay.

* ElevatorFailure: The elevator begins to show its failings, when the door refuses to go all the way to the top for Chris in Act 1, and then violently throws him out when returning down. Finally in Act 2, it outright crashes with Robert inside.
* EnterStageWindow: At the beginning of the Play, Robert and Dennis are supposed to enter through the chamber's door, but due to the door being locked, after banging multiple times upon it, eventually give up and enter from the wings. When Dennis is supposed to exit the scene, due to the door still being locked, after a few tries of forcing it open, sneaks off around the set. Sandra, playing the trope straight, after having her own trouble with door, chooses instead to climb through the window. By the time Dennis and Max are supposed to enter, the entire crew forces the door open, causing them [[ExplodingCloset all to topple onto the stage]].

* ExcusePlot: ''The Murder at Haversham Manor'', from what we can tell, appears to simply be a slightly hoary old classic murder mystery, but it's only really there to facilitate the ''real'' plot of exact how the show will [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin go wrong]].

''(Trevor provides twelve clock chimes)''\\

* FallingChandelierOfDoom: Most of the set comes apart at the seams, [[spoiler: but the play keeps this particular trick in reserve until the last five seconds, with the lights going out mid-"fall".]]

** In the Playbill in the Broadway version, there's a note from Chris, who states he thinks the production will "bring the house down." Sure enough, the set collapses near the end of the play.

* GetItOverWith: By the end of the show, Trevor's so fed up with the production that when Robert forgets his character's dying LastWords, he yells "Just die, for Christ's sake!"
-->'''Robert:''' Just die, for Chri- ''how dare you!''

* LadyNotAppearingInThisGame: On the posters outside of the theatre in the Broadway production, one includes headshots of the cast and one of Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio. A caption on the image reads "Not appearing Monday through Sunday". [[note]] [[DontExplainTheJoke Which means he never appears at all.]] [[/note]] On the West End it is Creator/TomCruise.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: For all the [[BreakingTheFourthWall interactions with the audience]], including questions from the crew on if they've seen Winston or Trevor's Duran-Duran box-set, Chris's angry argument with some rowdier members of the audience, Max's acknowledgment of the audience, Annie pulling an audience member on stage to help her with fixing the fireplace's mantlepiece, and Robert getting in line with the rest of the audience for concessions during intermission, all of this is still done by the Actors of "Creator/MischiefTheatre'' Company [[note]]or whatever theatre group is performing the show[[/note]] in character as "The Actors of the Cornely Polytechinic Drama Society".

* {{Malaproper}}: Dennis, who plays Perkins the Butler, can't say some of his words correctly, despite having written them on his hand.

* MimingTheCues / NonVerbalMiscommunication: When Annie as Florence loses her script pages, Dennis tries to act out the response she needs to give for a question he asks:

* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals[[invoked]]: It's revealed before the show starts and during the intermission that the dog brought on to play [[EvilDetectingDog Winston]] has gone missing. So, when the time comes for Arthur (Max) to enter with Winston, he's forced to hold an empty leash and [[SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud make dog noises]] to make up for it (though he doesn't seem to mind).

* NoTalkingOrPhonesWarning: Trevor delivers this, and uses it to ask the audience to help him find a missing Music/DuranDuran CD.
* OverlyLongGag: The climax of Act 1 sees Dennis [[BrokenRecord constantly repeating an earlier line; thus he, Chris, Annie, and Robert are forced to repeat a certain section of the play]] until Dennis finally remembers the correct line. This goes on for several minutes and leads to Robert having to drink from the container of white spirit multiple times- and towards the end, they begin to speed it up in an effort to get it over with.

** When the female lead Sandra is knocked out, the stage manager Annie is shoved on to the stage with a copy of the script to take her place. Needless to say, she starts reading the stage directions out loud ("How will I go on? Sobs."), and ends Act 1 by declaring the evening "a disaster! Blackout! Intermission!"
** Dennis declares that his character Perkins is going to "my quarters! Exits!" at one point, and then stands there posing until his error occurs to him.

-->'''Robert''': ''(after splashing Dennis with White Spirit)'' "'''GOOD GOD I NEEDED THAT!!!'''"
* RunningGag: Plenty, including a missing Music/DuranDuran CD, the [[EvilDetectingDog dog that was supposed to be used in the production]] being missing, the actors accidentally drinking white spirit (and subsequently performing a SpitTake), Max crashing into the support beam, various set pieces falling down, Max grinning out at the audience, Dennis mispronouncing words, and the actors playing the character of Florence getting knocked unconscious by set-pieces (usually {{the door|SlamsYou}}).

** TheDoorSlamsYou gag. The first time, it knocks out Sandra. The second time, it gets Annie. The ''third'' time, Annie catches it and slams it back shut (with an angry Sandra behind it, although she mysteriously pops out of the locked clock seconds later, having apparently teleported past the door).

** TheReveal of ''The Murder at Haversham Manor'' is inadvertently ruined twice by Jonathan rushing on stage and shouting, "Not so fast, Inspector!" before his cue. He gets it right the third time around.
** Trevor starts the show asking if anyone's seen a Music/DuranDuran CD. He later accidentally plays the music as a cue, letting the audience know he found it. At the play's climax, when everyone is at their wit's end, Robert pulls the play-within-a-play's evidence out of a handbag, [[RummageFail including "One ticket to]] '''''[[RummageFail DURAN DURAN!]]'''''" Robert holds up the CD case as everyone looks up at a facepalming Trevor.

* SoundingItOut: Twice; when Cecil (Max) is reading Charles' (Jonathan) diary, and when Inspector Carter (Chris) reads Charles' will. In the second case, he couldn't remove the ribbon that sealed the document, so he has to pretend to read from the closed will.

* StylisticSuck: ZigZagged. While the acting and the sets are problematic, the plot actually makes cohesive sense. Granted, its still an intentionally mediocre piece of writing, but its quality is never PlayedForLaughs.
* TheShowMustGoOn: Say what you like about the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, but they don't give up and will finish their play, come what may.

* TitleDrop: Jonathan caps off TheSummation at the end by saying "let us hope we never again see...a murder at Haversham Manor", which doubles as a SelfDeprecation gag. Of course, this can barely be heard over the other actors' bickering, the set completing its collapse, and Trevor playing his Music/DuranDuran.

* WalkingSpoiler: While portraying the murder victim's corpse, Jonathan quite literally proves to be a walking spoiler when he rushes onstage with a rifle declaring "Not so fast, Inspector!" before he's scripted to do so. And just in case the audience forgot he ruined the twists of both [[NotQuiteDead his character's survival]] and [[DetectiveMole the inspector's villainy]], he reminded them by jumping his cue a second time later on.
* WrongSongGag: At the beginning of the play, the cast asks audience members to let them know if they find a missing Music/DuranDuran CD. Later, a song by Duran Duran begins to play instead of a dramatic musical spike.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: For all the [[BreakingTheFourthWall interactions with the audience]], including questions from the crew on if they've seen Winston or Trevor's Duran-Duran box-set, Chris's angry argument with some rowdier members of the audience, Max's acknowledgment of the audience, Annie pulling an audience member on stage to help her with fixing the fireplace's mantlepiece, and Robert getting in line with the rest of the audience for concessions during intermission, all of this is still done by the Actors of "Creator/MischiefTheatre'' Company [[labelnote:*]]or whatever theatre group is performing the show[[/labelnote]] in character as "The Actors of the Cornely Polytechinic Drama Society".

* CulturalTranslation: The White Sprit in the UK production is referred to as Paint Thinner in the US production. [[note]]Paint thinner is the general term for White Spirit.[[/note]] Additionally, Cornley Polytechnic was renamed to Cornley ''University'' for all US productions.

* TheFoodPoisoningIncident: During the intro for Act 2, Chris, in hopes of avoiding this, advises audience members who ate one of the raspberry-ripple flavored ice creams (salted nuts in US productions), to quickly seek medical attention. Upon hearing this, Trevor, who just ate some of the snack Chris mentioned, immediately throws up.

** Trevor starts the show asking if anyone's seen a Music/DuranDuran CD. He later accidentally plays the music as a cue, letting the audience know he found it. At the play's climax, when everyone is at their wit's end, Robert pulls the play-within-a-play's evidence out of a handbag, [[RummageFail including "One ticket to '''''DURAN DURAN!'''''" holding up the CD case]] as everyone looks up at a facepalming Trevor.

* PlayWithinAPlay: ''The Murder at Haversham Manor''

* OverlyLongGag: The climax of Act 1 sees Dennis [[BrokenRecord constantly repeating an earlier line; thus he, Chris, Annie, and Robert are forced to repeat a certain section of the play]] until Dennis finally remembers the correct line. This goes on for several minutes and leads to Robert having to drink from the container of white spirit multiple times.

'''Chris:''' YOU WERE HAVING AN AFFAIR!\\
'''Sandra:''' Don't tell ''me'' to calm down! ''(slaps Chris)''\\

* FallingChandelierOfDoom: Most of the set comes apart at the seams, but the play keeps this trick in reserve until the last five seconds, with the lights going out mid-"fall".

'''Dennis:''' Of course, inspector. ''(pours white spirit)''\\

* BrokenRecord: When [[TheDitz Dennis]] ends up repeating an earlier line, the other characters begin to loop their dialogue (Causing Robert to repeatedly drink the White Spirit that he keeps spitting out).

'''Dennis:''' Of course, inspector. ''(pours more white spirit.)''\\

'''Robert:''' The gardener left at six, the only other member of staff is Perkins. ''(Drinks and spits out the white spirit.)'' Good God, I needed that.\\

''(The script begins goes round in a loop.)''\\

-->'''Robert:''' But who could’ve killed him?\\
'''Dennis:''' That’s a good question, Mr Colleymoore.\\
'''Chris:''' And one we need to answer quickly if we’re going to get out of this house alive.\\
'''Annie:''' Oh, inspector, you’ve given me a chill!\\
'''Chris:''' Perkins, pour us all another Scotch.\\
'''Dennis:''' Of course, inspector. (pours more white spirit for everyone.)\\
'''Chris:''' Now, tell me, is there anyone else that you know of in the grounds other than the four of us?\\
'''Annie:''' Not a soul.\\
'''Robert:'''The gardener left at six, the only other member ofstaff is Perkins. (Drinks and spits out the white spirit.) Good God, I needed that.\\
'''Chris:''' Does anyone else have access to the grounds?\\
'''Annie:''' No one, Inspector.\\
'''Dennis:''' I’m the only one with the master key, and as instructed, I locked and bolted the doors, as soon as you arrived.\\
'''Robert:''' Then who could have killed him?\\
(The script begins goes round in a loop.)\\
'''Dennis:''' That’s a good question, Mr Colleymoore.\\
'''Chris:''' And one we need to answer quickly if we’re going to get out of this house alive.

'''Robert:''' The staff all go home at weekends, except for Perkins, of course. (Drinks and spits out the white spirit.) Good God, I needed that.\\