So many things went right at The Play That Goes Wrong: High School Edition at Galesburg High School last weekend, November 17-19th. This play had the entire audience laughing as the antics became more and more absurd and the set came crashing down.
The audience members didn’t have to wait for the showtime to begin for the laughs to start. As they began to enter the Hegg Performing Arts Center, the cast members were already in character preparing for the fictitious play The Murder at Haversham Manor throughout the audience and on the stage.
Auditions for the fall play were held in September at Galesburg High School. While some students were unfamiliar with the script, others had some previous knowledge they brought with them as they landed their roles. According to senior Mason Bennewitz (Jonathan), “Before auditions for the show, I had heard of the show through tiny bits and pieces on social media. It wasn't until the Illinois High School Theatre Festival back in January that I saw the show in its entirety. It was an absolutely hilarious show and I knew from the moment I saw it that it was a show I wanted to do. Nonetheless, reading the script back in September still surprised me as I picked up on things I hadn't before. The hilarity of the show still surprised me even reading it then, and it only furthered my excitement to begin rehearsals, especially given the great cast we had.”
First-time actor in a High School production, Freshmen Mitchell Wiley (Max), was asked what the biggest challenge he faced was during rehearsals for the play, “One challenge I faced during the play was slowing down how fast I talk, I naturally talk fast and it was very hard for me to slow down. It was also hard for me to keep a deeper voice than my normal voice. What made this play different from previous plays I've been in is that the cast was amazing. I loved every member and every rehearsal was a new experience. Every play is a different experience and you won't be able to experience that same feeling again. Another different thing was doing more stunt moves and having the walls fall was the very first time for me. Not ever have I had a set like this one, it is one of the best sets I've acted in.”
The play is a complete ensemble show with the set being one of the stars. According to Technical Director, Russ Ullrich, “In this particular show, the set acts as a character all on its own. We had to come up with ways to let set pieces drop and entire sections of the walls to fall on cue and still be able to reset and do it again. Each night there was an ongoing concern with, not if but when something would break. We could only hope whatever broke would be fixable for the next night.”
According to stage manager, Jana Carlson, "The Play That Goes Wrong does have a very complex and potentially dangerous set. One of the challenges we faced was getting the set props to actually "go wrong". Behind the scenes, we had strategically placed heavy-duty magnets, carefully placed wires, and an insane amount of superglue, to hold the set together. Props, such as the painting, mantle, barometer, etc. fell every single rehearsal and faced loads of damage. One night, even the lounge had two legs break off. The scenes that go wrong usually had some form of complex timing and positioning to execute correctly."
In addition to all the extras put in place to keep parts of the set from completely breaking, Russ said pre-planning was a priority for the play, “Fortunately, we spent a lot of time planning ahead of designing the set. We not only had to design it to fall and be put back together but it had to be movable. We had the ILMEA Jazz Festival a week before tech week started so we had to move the set for them. We were very fortunate to have a small but mighty stage crew.”
Austin Ullrich, part of the Technical Crew also states, “The hardest part of building the set, without a doubt, was constructing it with the idea in mind that it has to fall apart. That's the whole point of the show, it HAS to fall. But we had to make sure it did so in a safe way that wouldn't endanger any of our actors.”
Due to the show suddenly becoming very popular across the country and the set being a difficult build for most high schools to pull off, according to Ullrich, “We have multiple schools who have expressed interest in buying our set. The plan is to have the set “perform” in Wisconsin in a few months.”
The play was directed by Tyler Demaree and by all audience accounts was considered a success. According to Demarre, “I'm incredibly happy with the performances of The Play that Goes Wrong this weekend. Each student showed high effort and dedication, and the tech crew backstage pulled off a very intricate and hilarious show. The amount of planning, organization, and dedication to produce a show this size is immense and I couldn't be more proud of the students and production staff for their effort.”
The cast included Ella Oligney-Estill, Mason Bennewitz, Jay Sanchez, Ryan Sherwin, Maya Spears, Mitchell Wiley, Brook Beeter, Tristan Hunt, and the “stage” crew which included Lyn Walker, Myah Purl, Lily Rees, Josh Cobb, Lillian Henry, Kyleigh Rohn, and Alexander Evans. Understudies for the show were Lily Rees, Josh Cobb, Jillyan Nicholas, Doug Bunde, Annamarie Coleman Reynolds, and Elizabeth Wallenfelsz.
The technical crew was comprised of Stage Manager Jana Carlson, Austin Ullrich, Sandra Williams, Reese Warnsing, Jacob Delashmutt, Sandra Williams, Alliyah Rice, Ava Headly, Jayme Jezek-Irle, Addy House, Madison Gummerson, Ana Andra, Grace Van Lieu, Jordan Bowton, Brook Beeter, and Vincent Ikrami.
Mark your calendars now! "The Not-So Mysterious Disappearance of Cinderella" performed by Galesburg Junior High, February 16-18, 2024 and "Rock of Ages: Teen Edition" performed by Galesburg High School, April 19-20, 2024.
Photo Credit: Dickerson Photography