“A lot has to go right to make it go wrong.”

Junior Brooke D’Andrea wasn’t the only Bedford High School student involved with the Performing Arts Department’s fall production to share that unusual sentiment.

That’s because “The Play That Goes Wrong: High School Edition” is a comedic farce that succeeds because of the well-timed mishaps, missteps, and malapropisms. 

“This play is one of the biggest and most challenging fall plays we have ever done,” said Director Katrina Faulstich before a rehearsal earlier this week. “This is one of the funniest plays ever written, and both casts are doing the comedy justice. The audience will laugh for two hours straight. These kids deserve a large crowd at every show.”

The BHS production, with two alternating casts, is scheduled for 7 p.m. performances on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Nov. 14, 15, and 16, as well as a 1 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Nov. 16 in the high school’s Buckley Auditorium.

Tickets may be acquired in advance at bhschorusandtheater.weebly.com/tickets. Tickets will also be sold at the door, if available.

The scene on stage is an amateur drama society’s production of a murder mystery, which, as one reviewer explained, “has everything you never want in a show: falling props, collapsing scenery, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything, including their lines.”

So much of the production’s success depends on the attention to detail by the stage crew in coordination with the lighting and audio technicians.

Set design was handled by Faulstich’s father Charlie, an engineer with a local firm and longtime set builder with the Friends of Melrose Drama. 

“It’s one of the more complex sets we’ve ever made,” said junior Olly Walton of the stage crew. 

Crew member Sayontika Bhattacharya said she and the other students working with the set are striving to “make sure nobody gets hurt.” She added, “Everything has to go wrong for it to go right.” 

Stage manager Verna Bowlan said that she finds the show “exciting [on] how technical it is. We are spending time making sure sets fall on time and safely. It’s all based on cues, and it’s important to be prepared.” 

Other participants on the stage crew agreed that they are enjoying their involvement with “The Play That Goes Wrong.” Stage manager Dhara Kaushik said the crew is “active” in its role.

Alice Cooprider, student lighting designer, said her job is based on “timing and precision. We have a lot of cues.” 

Individual actors acknowledged small differences in their roles, and Cooprider said “it’s fun to learn what the individual actors like to do. The play has to go wrong to be right.”

Charlie Desjardins, director of the sound technicians, said they coordinate with “what’s going on [on] stage. There are a lot of mixing, and effects.”

Members of the cast expressed enthusiasm and investment. 

“I always take part in the plays, but it’s special to be a part of this,” D’Andrea said. “There’s a lot of physicality that makes it unique. There are a lot of ways people interpret the comedy.”

Actor James Bryan also likes all opportunities to act, but “it’s an absolute relief to me to focus on comedy. It feels like it never gets old – a break I feel I needed. While we are performing, we play off each other’s laughter. The amount of visual comedy in the plot helps us create the character we want. There’s so much creativity we are able to imbue.”

Julian Muelhoefer said that there’s “a lot of engaging with the audience, like they are part of the show.” He said he is grateful for BHS Performing Arts – “the people here are really awesome. It’s a safe and fun environment.” 

Actor Dylan DeJesus agreed: “I enjoy all the people that I meet. They want to be involved.”

Faulstich, who teaches theater and chorus, explained that the high school edition is written for a cast of eight main characters, plus an ensemble of stage crew of up to eight students. 

“I had 16 students audition and they all impressed me so much. Because I had the perfect number of students for two casts, I double cast it,” she said. “The students will perform the stage crew ensemble on their off-cast shows.”

Cast members performing on Nov. 14 and the evening of Nov. 16 are Zivah Chessman, Abby Strickland, Yoana Dimitrova, Logan Toth, Abby Titlow, Maggie Chessman, John Mitchell, and Violet Gould. The performers for the other two shows are Annaliese Randazzo, Abby Bourret, Reena Bao, Ari DeJesus, Dylan DeJesus, Bryan D’Andrea, and Julian Muelhoefer.

“Two casts have meant a lot of work for all of us as the students have less rehearsal time than they normally would have,” Faulstich noted. “My assistant director, Jennie Noh, a senior, has been instrumental in the success of two casts. She has been able to work with one cast while I work with the other.

“It’s been so fun to watch each cast discover their own energy and characters. They also get to watch each other sometimes and they have been inspired by each other. I’ve been so proud of how supportive they have all been of each other.”

Ryan Wetherbee is the play’s technical director and Betsy Goetschius of the BHS social studies faculty serves as costume manager.

Other students involved with the set, lights, and sound include Harry Amaral, Cole Badzey, Mary Bujatski, Helen Canciello, Victoria Cargiulo, Katie Chiu, Joseph Choi, Cara Daneshvar, Atharva Dayai, Adrienne Faulkner, Joseph Galante, Xander Grossman, Lauren Kociubes, Jessie Komack, Tatum Langway, Cedric Last, Mila Maricic, Theo Mattson, Emily McDonald, Sho Okomato, Abbey Post, Roza Shaikh, Bianca Tiwari, Marcy Venuti, Evelyn Walton, and Druthi Yuvaraj.“The Play That Goes Wrong: High School Edition” is presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service under license from Mischief Worldwide Ltd. The Mischief Production of “The Play That Goes Wrong” was originally produced on the West End Stage by Kenny Wax & Stage Presence and on Broadway by Kevin McCollum, J. J Abrams, Kenny Wax & Stage Presence.”