Just over a year later and the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society is still looking for that hammer 🤔🔨The Play That Goes Wrong was some of my absolute favourite theatre of 2017, so I knew I couldn’t miss Mischief Theatre’s latest foray into the madcap world of low low budget theatre with PeterPan Goes Wrong Australia & NZ. We all know someone in this company – Trevor is almost beat for beat the spitting image of one of the techies at work, except our Trevor has 110% more facial hair and would probably pass out at the mere suggestion that he take over the lead role in Peter Pan.

There’s such a technical ingenuity to these plays that you have to applaud everyone involved. What seems like improvised chaos is really polished tricks and gags practised to absolute perfection. With so many familiar faces in this production, both new and returning, it’s impossible to pick a favourite performance. Special shout out will have to go to Tammy Weller’s unflappable costume changes and utterly ridiculous (dare I say electrifying) Tinkerbell.

New additions to the crew Connor Crawford and Teagan Wouters fit in seamlessly with the onstage insanity, particularly Connor as the set upon director Chris Bean. Audience favourite Max is played by Jordan Prosser with charm and utter delight. I loved seeing George Kemp return as the hapless Dennis, this time sporting a pair of ridiculous headphones – which is somehow even LESS helpful than smudged lines written on his palms. And of course Luke Joslin is an absolute natural in his many increasingly calamitous roles, though my favourite is probably the scene stealing Peter’s Shadow. That’s a lot more of Grantaire than I was ever expecting to see.

It’s an absolutely delightful two hours of theatre. The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society will be attempting Peter Pan at the Arts Centre Melbourne until January 27th, before they continue their tour of Australia! Don’t miss out!