The Play that Goes Wrong

(The Duchess Theatre, 23 June 2016)

The play makes up in physical farce what it lacks in verbal dexterity. The farce errs on the side of violence, which, on occasion, is gratuitous and does not serve to advance the characterisation.

When individuals are surprised, they either find it scary or funny. If the surprise is threatening or inexplicable, one is scary. If the surprise is pleasant or reveals a hitherto neglected regularity, one finds it funny. The individuals who have a taste for, and are good at, discovering patterns and regularities are those who appreciate, and are capable of, humour most. A society that is open to nonconformist ways of thinking is also a society that is most receptive to humour. A society that seeks to circumscribe the acceptable modes of thinking promotes the scary in art and customs, to project the dangers of thinking outside the received paradigm.

Art, just as science, is a language of hope.