By Jessica Levant
Laughing has been found to be very good for your health – reduces stress, increases oxygen consumption (which reduces your heart’s work), stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system, reduces artery inflammation and increases HDL (the good cholesterol).
Despite all that, I’ve never had a taste for farce. Yet recently I had the opportunity to immerse myself in this least favorite form of theater, and treated my heart to more laughter in a short space of time, than I can remember. Plus – to bridge the generation gap, the 12 or so year old kid in the next seat couldn’t stop laughing either!
San Francisco’s gem of a mid-sized theater the SF Playhouse in downtown San Francisco is currently showing the Olivier Awarded British play, The Play that Goes Wrong. And they do it with gusto, sensitivity, perfect timing – the skills that make the site-gags, reversals, ooopsies, and then all work in hilarious seamlessness. Credit goes to this production, it’s director, Susi Damilano, Co-Founder of SF Playhouse with Bill English, Artistic Director.
As for the gist of the entire play, the program cover says it all:
The performance starts before ‘the play’, with the wrong programs being handed out, ‘stagehands’ doing stagehand things (badly), calling on audience to forgive, and then to help, and somehow the play has now begun.
A very short summary is all you need because the joy is in watching the performances and the perfectly imperfect timing. The story is about the (first) production of “The Murder at the Haversham Manor” by an impossibly inept drama troupe. There’s the necessary possibly dead body, a brother, a friend, a fiancée, a butler, an inspector, an affair, some missing money, a duel, – and a set that refuses to behave as intended.
A lesser production might be humorous for those who love slapstick and sillyness, but here, you get much more than that. The SF Playhouse calls itself the “empathy gym” for a reason – they put their all into their productions with the goal of making a difference, and the audience benefits. In size, glitz and prices, it’s a notch or too down from SF’s “Big” theaters, whereas in friendliness, “heart”, intimacy between audience and theater personnel, it shines – and the talent is top notch. Do your heart a favor and see this play before it closes on Saturday, November 9.
The original production has been running since 2012 in London, where it won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards . [1]
San Francisco Playhouse is a nonprofit theatre near Union Square in San Francisco. The Bay Area’s most award-winning theatre company (Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, 2012-2022), the Playhouse stages plays and musicals every year, including world premieres, Broadway and Off-Broadway hits, and thought-provoking works from playwrights around the world.
Shows:
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 7pm
Wednesdays: 2pm & 7pm
Fridays: 8pm
Saturdays: 3pm & 8pm
Sundays: 2pm
SF Playhouse, 450 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. Single tickets ($30-$125) for The Play That Goes Wrong and 2024-25 Season subscriptions are currently available. For tickets and more visit information, or call the box office at 415-677-9596.
Photo Credit: Jessica Palopoli
Jessica Levant is an occasional writer about the arts.
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