Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Bryony Corrigan, Dave Hearn, Nancy Zamit, Chris Leask, Henry Lewis, Charlie Russell, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields.
Audiences have become too used to the idea of historical inaccuracies being part of a plot line, so much so that we no longer question them with the same level of interrogation as we used to. They are presented as adding texture to the story, vital to portray the themes in a certain light and to perhaps highlight a certain character’s involvement in the tale to a greater effect that was played out in real life.
This is not a new phenomenon, but one that has perhaps bred its own kind of genre, especially when it comes to distorting the truth of war and of events in our time. Such an occurrence reminds the viewer of George Orwell and the power of manipulating the truth for its own end, that the lie, if told enough times doesn’t just exist, it becomes fact.
To the art of satire we must therefore hold out hope, for being able to poke fun at a serious subject which has changed historical facts for the sake of artistic vanity is a starting point in which those that are interested in truthful representation can mock the big budget extravaganza and the non-plussed hero given screen time to save the world.
The Goes Wrong Show started its debut series with a Christmas corker; however, it is to its second offering, The Pilot (Not The Pilot), that the stakes of entertainment are raised, and for the tremendously skilled Mischief Theatre Company, it is a challenge they rose to with belief sewn in to the very fabric of the episode.
The art of illusionary deceit of detailed chaos is carried to its maximum with Nancy Zamit and Charlie Russell’s performances, the act of mirrors and superb timing complemented the overall structure of the piece. In their own style of anarchy, of showcasing disorder as a functioning part of life, that madness is a perfect soul which beats against the grain, The Goes Wrong Show regulars found that a World War Two drama can indeed be taken to task and given the freedom to speak ill of those that tamper with historical fact.
Beautifully funny, slapstick to its core but also a production in which lays a serious message under the cloak of comedic inscrutability; if you aren’t making fun of history, then be prepared to document it with precision.
Ian D. Hall