Magic Goes Wrong
Somewhere, somehow, The Play That Goes Wrong went bafflingly right. What started as a Christie spoof in a pub theatre is now running with Mousetrap-like implacability in the West End, and Mischief Theatre, the play’s architects, are now the BBC’s go-to prat fall merchants and run a stable of farces across theatreland, whose latest progeny is Magic Goes Wrong.
The conceit will not surprise anybody familiar with this backlist: rather than the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society overreaching its technical and dramatic capacities, we have an assortment of would-be conjurers attempting a series of poorly-conceived tricks for the Disasters in Magic Charity Fundraiser. As promised, these Go Wrong.
How they go wrong is suitably fascinating and impressive. As Tommy Cooper discovered, audiences take far more pleasure in tricks going wrong – especially when magic seems to happen just the same. Fans of Penn and Teller will recognise their hands in the script: the American double act famously took classic tricks down wildly circuitous detours, usually involving horrible injuries to Teller, and collaborated with Mischief Theatre for this project. Mind-readings fail, escape artists drown, and of course somebody really is sawn in half.
The narrative stringing these set pieces together is pretty threadbare, and one sometimes wishes that they were presented simply as a disaster variety show. But the jokes do pay off, and some of the characters are sharply-written parodies of Derren Brown, Criss Angel, and other highly-hyped acts. Besides, who’s watching a magic spectacular for the plot?
Magic Goes Wrong is touring the UK until May
Resonate
The Resonate series is the primary event run by the Archdiocese of Westminster’s Youth Ministry, featuring monthly talks at Vaughan House near the Cathedral. On 3 March 2022 it hosts Ben Plimmer, founding trustee of the Catholic Student Network, for an evening exploring Faith and Facebook and the challenges posed by social media.
www.dowym.com/events/resonate-w-ben-plimmer/
St Patrick’s Day
No need for any reminders in Ireland, where 17 March is a public holiday and the festivities inescapable, but there will be events aplenty in the UK as well – Patrick was a Briton, after all. In London, on Sunday 13 March a parade travels from Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square, and expects to attract 50,000 people.
Engage
Castlerigg Manor’s popular online youth ministry course is back with ten weekly one-hour sessions from 15 March 2022.
www.castleriggmanor.co.uk/engage
Youth 2000 Leeds Retreat
The Youth 2000 Retreat returns to Leeds Trinity University for March 2022. Youth 2000 was founded in 1990 to help young people to draw nearer to Christ and discern their vocations, and centres its ministry on events ‘run by young people for young people’. The retreat runs from 18–20 March and promises three days of fun, fellowship, and worship for 18–35-year-olds interested in some of life’s big questions.
www.youth2000.org
Passion Plays 2022
Cities across the country will perform Christ’s Passion in the open air on Good Friday, 15 April. Dramatisations of the Passion have an ancient pedigree, dating to the Mystery Plays originally performed by trade guilds, and historic cities including Chester, Worcester and Norwich, plan to stage the productions which Covid-19 postponed in 2021. Other venues include Liverpool, Bishop Auckland and Trafalgar Square.
www.passion-plays.co.uk
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