Anyone who has followed my reviews knows I have seen and reviewed The Play That Goes Wrong many times and for the most part enjoyed it; however, the gags certainly aren’t as fresh or as funny as the first time I saw it. It is for this reason I was pretty excited when I heard Hale Center Theater was doing a different play written by the same team (a spin-off you might say) called Peter Pan Goes Wrong. It is of course the same basic concept of a community theatre production becoming a mess but put to the classic Peter Pan. The ironic element is the night I attended (MWF cast) a bunch of elements actually did go wrong but the team at Hale handled it like champs and it didn’t prevent me from having a thoroughly good time with this zany comedy.

I have never seen this show so I’m not sure if it is always part of the script, but I appreciate they took a second to explain why the The Cornley Drama Society had an infusion of capital to make such elaborate sets and visual effects as one sees at Hale. This production is in their Jewel Box Theater and director Ryan Simmons and scenic designer Jenn Taylor has created a rotating stage that changes from the Darling’s bedroom, to Hook’s pirate ship, to the Peter Pan’s house in the woods with ease. Of course, this being a Wrong play each element from scene-to-scene is a mess and doesn’t go as our poor drama society wishes it would, but the set is very well done.

Like I said, the ironic thing is the night I attended I believe there was a problem with the flight equipment and they had to pause the show for a long break (at least 20 minutes) to make adjustments. I do think a little more clarification from the company might have been nice because I didn’t know whether this was a bit in the play or an actual pause for technical reasons. The only reason I gathered it wasn’t a planned break is because it was so long but also because the wife of one of the actors happened to be sitting near me and was texting with the actor giving us updates. If that hadn’t been the case I would have been quite confused, which I suppose is on theme for the show but there can be too much of a good thing!

Fortunately the cast is all top rate and up for any improving and the demands the physical comedy requires. Keith McKay Evans is the standout as the show’s director Chris and he also plays Captain Hook/Mr Darling. Most of the chaos revolves around a showmance love triangle between Sandra who is playing Wendy (Twyla Wilson,) Jonathan who is playing Peter Pan (Jacob Chapman,) and Max who is playing Michael (Colton Hattabaugh) but only got the job because his family is the benefactor who allows the production to have such fancy sets. The back and forth between these 3 actors is very funny and keeps enough of a through-line to give some story and not just be a series of antics.

That said, the antics are very funny. Some times it’s the big over-the-top scenes with trees falling on the stage frightened Lucy (Ali Bennett) and other times it’s smaller gags that are stretched out and repeated to great effect like when the narrator Francis’ (Ben Parkes) automated chair keeps malfunctioning. I do think the show doesn’t use the Cornley Society crew as well as the traditional Wrong. Also because the sets keep changing it’s harder to pull off smaller gags like how the original has the jokes with the mantle or the various wall-hangings. One of my favorite gags in the original is when the props get messed up and each actor has to pretend a book is a key, a cup is a telephone etc. There aren’t as many smaller jokes like that in this Peter Pan version.

Still it is very funny and at the end of the day that’s what matters most in a comedy. I was laughing throughout and the cast was all selling the jokes well. It does have some more saucy humor particularly with the love triangle but nothing beyond a PG-13 type level. It is playing through May 9th and worthy of your time and money. There’s so much actually going wrong in the world head up to Hale and have some laughs with fake things going wrong. It’s quite cathartic really! Tickets can be purchased here. Frozen at Hale is also fantastic at their other larger theater.

Peter Pan Goes Wrong is written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields of the Mischief Theatre Company. It first premiered in London in 2013 (just a year after The Play that Goes Wrong premiered.) It recently had a run on Broadway in 2023.

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