Wharton County Junior College actors Ben Wandell of Wharton, grasping the couch, is pulled across stage by Wil Harborth of Wharton during a rehearsal for the upcoming production, "The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong." The show is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 16-18 at the Horton Foote Theatre in the Duson-Hansen Fine Arts Building on the Wharton campus. The event is free and open to the public.
WHARTON, TEXAS – Mistimed lines and misplaced props are all happening in the first five minutes of the Wharton County Junior College drama department’s upcoming production appropriately titled, “The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong.” The production is set for 7 p.m. on Feb. 16-18 at the Horton Foote Theatre in the Duson-Hansen Fine Arts Building on the Wharton campus. The event is free and open to the public.
“It’s really different,” said WCJC Drama Instructor Greg McLarty. “The script is something that I have been wanting to do for quite a while. Plus, we have a very interactive set.”
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, the comedy was originally presented by Mischief Theatre in London, England, in 2012. McLarty said American filmmaker J.J. Abrams assisted the group in bringing the show to the United States. It premiered on Broadway in April of 2017.
The plot centers on the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempting to perform a 1920s murder mystery. Once the play opens, mayhem begins to ensue, with lines becoming messed up, set pieces falling off the walls and actors picking up the wrong props. Some of the most hilarious aspects of the play are the actors’ reactions to the mishaps.
“There are a number of different issues that arise during this amateur theatre group’s performance and the audience gets to see how the actors react to it,” McLarty said.
The cast includes Wil Harborth of Wharton, Brayden Leva of Sugar Land, Luis Perez of Wharton, Ben Wandell, of Wharton, Jamie Arar of Bay City, Valerie Brown of Eagle Lake, Maegan Hackstedt of Needville, and Karis Meek of Hungerford. The crew includes Riley Moseley of East Bernard, Hamza Mir of Richmond, Alina Dejesus of Palacios, C’aira Hearse of Wharton, and Crystal Hackstedt of Needville.
After the local performances, the WCJC Drama Department will be taking the play on the road for the Texas Community College Play Festival, held later this month in Denton.
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