The Play That Goes Wrong, which won the 2015 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, will continue to keep audiences laughing like hyenas on nitrous oxide in the West End until 11 September 2016 after extending its booking period.
The hit show, which began its run at the Duchess Theatre last September, had been booking until Valentine’s Day next year.
Telling the story of The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s attempts to stage a production of a 1920s murder mystery, The Play That Goes Wrong has won the hearts and funny bones of London theatre audiences with its blend of silliness, slapstick and farce.
The story of the production’s rise is, in itself, an underdog story. Created by Mischief Theatre, a group of LAMDA graduates who formed an improvised comedy group, the play began its life as a one-act show at the Old Red Lion in 2013. For its first performance, it had only four paying audience members. Since then it played a short season at the Trafalgar Studios, toured the UK and set up home at the Duchess Theatre last year.
Speaking about the show, producer Kenny Wax said: “We are quite staggered to be celebrating the first birthday of The Play That Goes Wrong with the announcement of an extension to the booking period which will take us to the end of two years in the West End.”
Far from resting on their laurels, the team behind The Play That Goes Wrong aims to open productions in 23 countries in the coming two year. They will also bring a new production, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, to the Apollo Theatre this Christmas.