Written by: Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis & Henry Shields
Performance Dates:
September 17-19th, 2026 at 7:00 pm
&
Sunday Matinee
September 20th, 2026 at 2:30 pm
Directed by Daniel S. Oyler & Robb Newell
Audition Dates are August 10 & 11, 2026
SUMMARY: From Mischief, Broadway masters of comedy, comes this smash-hit farce. Welcome to opening night of the Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. This 1920s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show: an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences! Part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, this Olivier Award-winning comedy is a global phenomenon that’s guaranteed to leave you aching with laughter!
Cast list:
ANNIE – The company’s stage manager. American accent.
STAGE CREW – The Cornley Drama Society stage crew.
TREVOR – The company’s lighting and sound operator. American accent.
CHRIS – The head of the drama society. Directed the play and plays Inspector Carter.
JONATHAN – Plays Charles Haversham.
ROBERT – Plays Thomas Colleymoore.
DENNIS – Plays Perkins.
MAX – Plays Cecil Haversham and Arthur the Gardener.
SANDRA – Plays Florence Colleymoore.
As with any play-within-a-play, you have the complication of the characters of the actors doing the play-within-the-play and the characters within the play-within-the-play. A crucial thing to remember when performing this piece is to tell the story of The Murder at Haversham Manor. That is what the actors of Cornley are setting out to do and as such should be what the cast of The Play That Goes Wrong are setting out to do. The characters of the actors you will no doubt work on in detail, but their temperaments and flaws should shine through the cracks in their performances and not suffocate the action. Always try to tell the murder mystery story and play the Haversham Manor characters.