Mischief Theatre
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Mischief Theatre
OR:
Mischief Theatre on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Mischief Theatre is a British theatre company founded in 2008 by a group of students from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in
West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...
, and directed by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields. The group originally began by doing improvised comedy shows, but by 2012 they expanded into comedic theatrical performances that includes choreographed routines, jokes, and stunts. The company is best known for their performances as the fictional theatre company, The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, who attempt several amateur performances that comedically go wrong. Significant work by the company includes the award-winning 2012 stage play ''
The Play That Goes Wrong ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' is a 2012 play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. It won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. As of September 2021, the show has been running since 201 ...
'' and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television series ''
The Goes Wrong Show ''The Goes Wrong Show'' is a British comedy series created by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, and produced by Mischief Screen and Big Talk Productions, in association with Lionsgate UK, for the BBC. The programme stars the ense ...
''. Several of the stage performances by the company have been shown in the
West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government build ...
, and also in theatres across the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, North America, and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
.


History

Mischief Theatre was first formed in 2008 by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, while studying in a drama foundation course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. The three founders selected the company's members, most having been recruited from those attending the same course, including Dave Hearn, Nancy Zamit, Bryony Corrigan, and Niall Ransome. The company conducted its first performance, ''Let's See What Happens'', at The Questors Studio Theatre in July 2008, which they later performed at
The Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
the following month. In 2012, Lewis, Sayer and Shields devised the script for ''
The Play That Goes Wrong ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' is a 2012 play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. It won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. As of September 2021, the show has been running since 201 ...
'', originally titled ''The Murder Before Christmas','' a comedic play based on the real-life situations regarding accidents and problems that can occur in stage productions. The script saw the company's members diverge into choreographed performances, including stunts and jokes. The play premiered in London later that year, and after a successful run went on to multiple UK tours and was featured at the 2015 Royal Variety Performance show. The directors soon focused the company to conducting additional new shows, either based on improvisational comedy or scripted performances, including ''Lights! Camera! Improvise!'', ''Late Night Impro Fight'', and ''Mischief Movie Nigh''t. In 2016, the company was approached by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
to conduct a televised Christmas special, consisting of an adaptation of their play '' Peter Pan Goes Wrong''. The adaptation proved a success, with the BBC later commissioning the company to develop a new Christmas special in 2017, before offering its members their own television series, ''
The Goes Wrong Show ''The Goes Wrong Show'' is a British comedy series created by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, and produced by Mischief Screen and Big Talk Productions, in association with Lionsgate UK, for the BBC. The programme stars the ense ...
'', in 2019. On 1 April 2020, Mischief Theatre began a weekly podcast titled "Mischief Makers", which focused on the members of the Mischief Theatre. During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, Mischief Theatre put on improvisational comedy shows (''Mischief Movie Night'') in open-air venues in late August and early September. They briefly took the show to the
Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...
in December before a national lockdown caused venues to close, forcing their planned schedule to be cut short. To compensate for this, the company conducted their show online, under the title ''Mischief Movie Night In''.


Stage productions


''The Play That Goes Wrong''

''The Play That Goes Wrong'' is a play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields. It premiered at the
Old Red Lion Theatre The Old Red Lion is a pub and fringe theatre, at Angel, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre was founded in 1979 as the Old Red Lion Theatre Club. The pub was Grade II listed in 1994 by Historic England. History Construction The p ...
in London in 2012, moved to
Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its ...
in 2013, toured the UK and internationally in 2014 and opened to the
Duchess Theatre The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 sea ...
in the West End on 14 September 2014. In the play The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempt to put on a 1920s murder mystery, but the performance is beset with disasters and the accident prone cast struggle through every scene. It won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards and Best New Comedy at the
WhatsOnStage.com Awards The WhatsOnStage Awards (WOS Awards), formerly known as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com. The awards recognise performers and productions of British theatre with an emphasis on London's West ...
in 2014 Its run in
London's West End The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...
at the
Duchess Theatre The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 sea ...
has been extended multiple times, and is still currently running. The play opened on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in New York City at the Lyceum Theatre in April 2017 with the original West End company. It closed on Broadway in January 2019, before immediately moving to the Off-Broadway theatre
New World Stages New World Stages is a five-theater, Off-Broadway performing arts complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is between 49th and 50th Streets beneath the plaza of the Worldwide Plaza complex at Eighth Avenue. ...
and reopening in February 2019, where it still continues to run. The Broadway company was followed by 2 North American touring companies and a sit-down production at Chicago's Broadway Playhouse. From July 2023 to August 2023, a short sit down production will take place at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center. Foreign language productions of ''The Play that Goes Wrong'' have also been presented in France, Israel, Finland, Italy, Belgium and Russia. Productions were due to open in China, Australia,
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
,
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
,
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
,
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
.


''Peter Pan Goes Wrong''

''Peter Pan Goes Wrong'' is a comedy play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields in the 'Goes Wrong' range. It premiered at the Pleasance Theatre in London in December 2013 before touring the UK in 2014 and 2015, and in December 2015 it opened at London's
Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.
. Following widespread critical acclaim, Peter Pan Goes Wrong returned to the Apollo Theatre for a limited run from 21 October 2016 – 29 January 2017. The play is adapted from the original stage play ''
Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
'' by J.M. Barrie and in it the inept and accident prone Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society set out to present the classic tale of ''Peter Pan'' with comical and disastrous results. The production was nominated for two Off West End Awards in 2013 for Best Production and Best Ensemble. ''Peter Pan Goes Wrong'' will make its Broadway debut at the Barrymore Theater on 17 March 2023 (with an opening date scheduled for 19 April 2023) featuring a majority of the original company, a number of US Mischief alumni, and includes the addition of a new character.


''The Comedy About a Bank Robbery''

''The Comedy About a Bank Robbery'' is a comedy play, written by Lewis, Sayer and Shields. The play opened at the West End's
Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began developmen ...
on 31 March 2016, with an official opening night on 21 April 2016. The production closed on 15 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Original cast included: Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer, Nancy Zamit, Dave Hearn, Charlie Russell, Greg Tannahill, Jeremy Lloyd and Chris Leask The play is directed by Mark Bell, with set design by David Farley and costume design by Roberto Surace.


''Lights! Camera! Improvise!'' and ''Mischief Movie Night''

''Lights! Camera! Improvise!'' is an improvised comedy show format devised and performed by Mischief Theatre. The show was first presented at
The Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
in August 2009 and has since been performed across the UK and internationally as well as at The Duchess Theatre in the West End. In the show a film collector named Oscar invites the audience to suggest genres, locations and a title for a film which he then finds in his extensive DVD collection. A company of six or seven performers then improvise a longform narrative based on these ideas under the direction of Oscar. In 2013 the production won a Spirit of the Fringe Award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2017 the show, renamed ''Mischief Movie Night'', began a limited run at The Arts Theatre in London's West End. In 2020 Mischief Theatre began live-streaming semi-regular performances of ''Mischief Movie Night In'' during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.


Vaudeville Theatre residency

In September 2019, Mischief Theatre began a yearlong residency at the
Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...
in London's West End, alongside the long-running productions of ''
The Play That Goes Wrong ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' is a 2012 play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. It won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. As of September 2021, the show has been running since 201 ...
'' and '' The Comedy About a Bank Robbery''.


''Groan Ups''

''Groan Ups'' was written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, and was the first production of the residency, running from 20 September until 1 December 2019, featuring the original Mischief company and directed by Kirsty Patrick Ward.


''Magic Goes Wrong''

''Magic Goes Wrong'' is a collaboration between the company and
Penn & Teller Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since the late 1970s. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic. The duo h ...
that combines the ''Goes Wrong'' formula with actual stage magic. The production began previews 14 December 2019, prior officially opening on 8 January 2020. It had been extended to run until August 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic shut it down in March. The production reopens on 21 October 2021 at The Apollo Theatre for a strictly limited Christmas run.


Additional Shows

Mischief Theatre returned to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2022. In addition to ''Mischief Movie Night'', Mischief also presented ''Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle'' (which is based off of a character in Magic Goes Wrong) and ''Charlie Russell Aims to Please'', a solo show written and starring original company member Charlie Russell. Outside of the official Mischief productions, company members participated in ''Starship Improvise'' at the Festival, partnering up with fellow improv-comedy group Showstoppers, including Ruth Bratt. Bratt had appeared in three series of the BAFTA award winning BBC2 series
People Just Do Nothing ''People Just Do Nothing'' is a British television mockumentary sitcom, created and performed by Allan Mustafa, Steve Stamp, Asim Chaudhry and Hugo Chegwin. The programme follows the lives of MC Grindah, DJ Beats and their friends, who run K ...
.


Television productions

''Peter Pan Goes Wrong'' was adapted for a one-hour television special which was broadcast on 31 December 2016 on BBC One. It featured almost the entire original cast (with the exception of Rob Falconer) and guest starred David Suchet as the narrator. On 30 December 2017, ''A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong'' aired on BBC One, featuring both Dame
Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in ''On H ...
and Sir
Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as ''Hamlet'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'', '' Macbeth'', ''Twelfth Night'', '' The Tempest'', ''Kin ...
. Following the events of the previous year, the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society have now been blacklisted by the BBC. Determined to get back on the air, they hijack a live broadcast of
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
' '' A Christmas Carol''. The special was watched by a reported audience of 4.61 million. On 22 February 2019, it was announced the company would create a six-part BBC One series titled ''
The Goes Wrong Show ''The Goes Wrong Show'' is a British comedy series created by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, and produced by Mischief Screen and Big Talk Productions, in association with Lionsgate UK, for the BBC. The programme stars the ense ...
'', starring the original cast and creatives behind ''The Play That Goes Wrong''. The Nativity was the subject of the 2020 Christmas special. ''Peter Pan Goes Wrong'', ''A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong'' and ''The Goes Wrong Show'' were filmed at dock10 studios.


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{authority control Theatre companies in London Comedy theatre 2008 establishments in the United Kingdom