Sheffield Lyceum dates for smash-hit slapstick comedy Peter Pan Goes Wrong

There’s comedy mishaps and slapstick galore as hapless actors cause chaos once more in another comedy from a company who specialise in funny mayhem.
Comic chaos in Peter Pan Goes WrongComic chaos in Peter Pan Goes Wrong
Comic chaos in Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Following their multi-award-winning success with The Play That Goes Wrong and The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, Mischief Theatre return with their riotous spin on a timeless classic, the West End smash hit Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

The members of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are back on stage, battling technical hitches, flying mishaps and cast disputes as they attempt to present J M Barrie’s much-loved tale.

But will they ever make it to Neverland?

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Fast becoming a global phenomenon, currently performing in five continents and 35 countries, Mischief’s unique brand of hilarity has found huge appeal.

This comedy has already been seen on BBC One and it was created by the team who are currently starring in The Goes Wrong Show on the same channel.

Everything relies on split-second timing as the cast cleverly reduce the play to chaos.

Fragile egos are shattered as off-stage rivalries cause pandemonium but everyone is determined that the show must go on, no matter how everything is crumbling around the cast and crew.

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Company director and show writer Jonathan Sayer has described what led him and a group of young actors to set up Mischief Theatre.

“Our main inspiration comes from our teachers who we trained with at LAMDA (drama school).

“Adam Meggido, who runs the company responsible for Showstopper the Improvised Musical, for example, has been a huge inspiration for Mischief Theatre’s beginnings.

“Personally, I was inspired by the style of old silent movies; Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton.

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“We’ve also been heavily influenced by a man called Michael Green, who wrote The Art of Coarse Acting and the coarse acting plays, which are mini plays about things going wrong in the theatre and different amateur actors and their styles of acting.”

Fawlty Towers was another influence, with characters with a sense of self-importance striving to maintain their dignity in the face of conflict.

In stark contrast to the utter failure of the fictional Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, Jonathan said that the huge popularity of the shows was a shock at first.

“We’ve definitely been surprised by the success of the company! In hindsight, you look back and you say ‘oh wasn’t that a struggle’ when we weren’t being paid. This was before we met our producers.

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“We were working different jobs but everyone was all in it together, building the set and putting stuff on.

“You don’t look at it as a struggle because, at the time, it’s just really good fun, working with your friends.

“There were certainly moments when we all had to rally together but we’re really lucky to have a team who love being and creating together and share a similar mind-set. That makes it easier.”

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