Is Perry Players’ new production a comedy or murder mystery? You decide for yourself

Folks at the Perry Players thought people needed a good laugh these days, something out of the ordinary and of real quality.

They say they found it in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” set for Oct. 14-24. It’s one of several community theater productions hitting stages in weeks ahead, but more on that later.

“We wanted to do the funniest show we could because people need a good, big laugh these days,” said Chris Kemp, cast member, Perry Players board member and the play’s set, construction and special effects designer better known as the “set guy.”

Kemp’s daughter, Hanna Kemp, selected the show and is its director.

“Someone showed me a five-minute summary of it on YouTube and I cracked up,” she said. “I’m not given easily to laughing so I thought right then I wanted to do it.”

The award-winning comedy was written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields of the Mischief Theatre Company and run in London since 2012. It was on Broadway until COVID but, as it happens, is reopening Oct. 15, the day after the Perry version opens.

“It’s mainly a British farce with lots of slapstick – but not Three Stooges slapstick,” Hanna Kemp said. “People get slapped, fall and encounter mayhem but their reactions are real, not cartoon-like. It’s over-the-top and subtle at the same time and I think that’s what makes it so funny.”

Hanna Kemp further described the play.

“It’s a play-within-a-play and the play within is a murder mystery,” she said. “Supposedly, it’s the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society presenting ‘The Murder at Haversham Manor.’ But, as the name states, everything goes wrong. Everything. The dialog is clever and funny enough but then there’s are non-stop, ‘Wow, I didn’t see that coming’ moments from start to finish involving characters and the set. The set is really a character in the play.”

Hanna Kemp said she was proud of the cast who donned English accents and character traits for both the actor they portray and for the part that actor plays in the play within.

And also of her set-building dad and those who are making the production work.

When Chris Kemp left the stage for his interview, he sat down with a drill still in hand. When mentioned, he looked at it and said, “Oh, yeah,” and sat it on the table.

“This is by far the most complicated set I’ve done of the eight or so I’ve worked on,” he said. “There are so many little and big things built into it and most are just for one laugh. I mean, in most productions, there are two, maybe three or four built-in features. In this, there are more than 40. All the business going on has to be perfect and rehearsed over and over and over. Everything has to go really, really right for everything to go wrong.”

Chris Kemp, his wife Lucy and the rest of their family plus several extended family members, were drawn into theater life when Hanna Kemp’s passion for film, theater and acting led them to it when she was a pre-teen.

When asked about his now-19-year-old daughter’s work, he reflected a moment – long enough to get misty-eyed – and then spoke with a new crackle in his voice.

“She’s just a good person,” he said. “No one works harder than she does and I’m continually amazed how professional she is. To be directed by someone who’s such a good performer as herself, well that’s what every actor wants. Community theater has been a great family adventure for us and I was the kind of guy who never, ever wanted to go and sit through a play. But I did to see her and now I’m hooked.”

And, he admitted, in a way his daughter is a bit of a troublemaker.

“She just believes anything is possible, like this play,” he said. “I told her, ‘Sure, we can do that, build that.’ Little did I know what a huge task it was especially with our theater’s budget and no grants or millionaire patrons. It’s all community support from play to play so we couldn’t use hydraulics or super-fancy store-bought devices. We used what I call Flintstone engineering.”

Hanna Kemp calls it dad engineering.

But a final word: the play almost never got off the ground – everything was going wrong.

“It has just become available and, as far as I can tell, we’re the first community theater to do it,” Hanna Kemp said. “Certainly first in the southeast. But the publishing company told me we couldn’t because a professional company was doing it near us. Well, I couldn’t find anyone and asked if that wasn’t a mistake. No results.”

Then, she figured, “Why not?” and messaged one of the authors and stars of the London production on Instagram, Henry Shields. She waited, waited and waited getting no response. Dead end, she thought.

“But then, after weeks and weeks, I heard back and he said he wanted us to do it,” she said. “He put us in touch with the right people who confirmed there had been a mistake and we could do it. So we are.”

There are clips on Hanna Kemp’s Instagram (Hanna_with_no_extra_h) and ticketing, times, dates and other information at www.perryplayers.org.

Remember, Perry is particularly busy this time of year – everyone should support the fun and entertainment at the Georgia National Fair in Perry — but you may want to slip in from the east versus just running down Interstate 75 from the west. The Perry Players’ address is 909 Main St.

There is no mask requirement but common-sense health and sanitary practices are in place.

In the remainder of the month, Macon Little Theatre also has a production starting next week, Oct. 15, when they present “Clue!,” based on the popular comedy film and famed board game.

Then, Oct. 21-24, Theatre Macon opens one of its Stage 2 Series productions, “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.” Unique Stage 2 productions allow experimentation and new directors and artists to try their hand at the theater and this one presents 30 plays in 60 minutes, each about two minutes. It’s still running and is the longest-running play in Chicago theater history.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.