W&L Presents Student Production of ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ The play runs April 8-11 in Johnson Theatre in the Lenfest Center for the Arts.

Office of Communications and Public Affairs
March 27, 2026

The Department of Theater, Dance and Film Studies at Washington and Lee University is pleased to present “The Play That Goes Wrong,” an Olivier Award-winning farce by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields. Performances will take place in the Johnson Theatre in the Lenfest Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. on April 8-10 and at 2 p.m. on April 11.

Tickets are required and available online or in person at the Lenfest Center box office.

Directed by Suzanne Delle, visiting assistant professor of theater at W&L, “The Play That Goes Wrong” follows the fictional Cornley Drama Society as they attempt to perform the classic murder mystery, “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” Unfortunately, nearly everything that can go wrong, does — props malfunction, actors miss their cues, set pieces collapse and the evening spirals into increasingly chaotic theatrical catastrophe. While the show looks like a disaster onstage, the production requires meticulous timing, physical choreography and close collaboration between actors and technical designers.

“Comedy like this is actually incredibly technical,” said Delle, who has worked at colleges and universities across the country and previously served as Region II Chair for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. “Every moment that looks accidental is carefully rehearsed so that the audience can enjoy the illusion of everything falling apart.”

The show functions as a true ensemble piece, with every performer playing a critical role in the evening’s carefully orchestrated chaos. The production features 14 W&L students, with a mix of returning performers — including Ryleigh Love ’29, Rachel Collins ’27, Chuck Rutberg ’26 and Stella Adamopoulos ’27 — and those making their stage debut, including Zander Kitchen ’26, Andriy Bondar ’27, Katy Wyrick ’28 and Ava Grace Flory ’26.

For the student actors, mastering the style of farce has been a new challenge. Unlike many forms of acting that emphasize emotional realism, farce requires performers to fully commit to absurd circumstances while maintaining precise comedic timing.

“In rehearsal, we’ve been learning that the play only works if we treat everything seriously,” said Collins, who also appeared in the fall production of “These Shining Lives.” “For the characters, this isn’t a comedy. It’s a tragedy where their entire production is falling apart.”

As rehearsals continued, many actors also discovered how much trust the show requires between performers.

“The physical comedy only works if everyone is completely committed to the timing and trusts each other,” said Rutberg. “Even though the audience sees chaos, the actors have to stay focused and work together to keep the show moving.”

The show’s carefully choreographed stumbles, collisions and stage mishaps were developed with the help of fight choreographer Jeremy West, a certified stage combat instructor with over 20 years of professional experience, including at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, and the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. West’s work helped transform the production’s physical comedy into the controlled chaos audiences will see on stage.

Stefanie Hansen, associate professor of theater at the University of Delaware, served as the visiting scenic designer for the production, creating the elaborate set for “The Murder at Haversham Manor” which is designed to malfunction in increasingly ridiculous ways throughout the performance. W&L staff members Tom Hackman, theater technical director, and Paula Fritz, producing stage manager, also supported the production behind the scenes, working closely with students to ensure that every collapsing wall, broken prop and mistimed cue happens safely and exactly when it should.

“This play is a celebration of theater itself,” Delle said. “It reminds us how much teamwork, creativity and problem-solving go into creating live performance.”

Order your tickets online today or call the Lenfest Center box office at 540-458-8000 for ticket information. Box office hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. The cost is $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, $14 for W&L faculty and staff and $8 for students.

For a full list of this season’s performances, visit the Lenfest Center’s website.

The Lenfest Center for the Arts, home of the Department of Theater, Dance and Film Studies, the Department of Music and the Department of Art and Art History, is a multi-use facility designed and equipped to accommodate a broad spectrum of the performing arts, including theater, musical theater, opera and operetta, choral and band music, dance and performance art in one energizing complex.