Magic Goes Wrong, the comedy created by Mischief Theatre with Las Vegas mainstays Penn & Teller, will return to London's West End beginning December 10 at the Vaudeville Theatre. The limited engagement is currently scheduled to continue through January 31, 2021.
The West End cast includes Bryony Corrigan as Spitzmaus, Roxy Faridany as Eugenia, Dave Hearn as The Blade, Henry Lewis as Mind Mangler, Henry Shields as Sophisticato, Jonathan Sayer as Mickey, and Nancy Zamit as Bär with Natasha Culley and Lauren Ingram.
Magic Goes Wrong is directed by Adam Meggido, designed by Will Bowen with costume designs by Roberto Surace, lighting design by David Howe, sound design by Paul Groothuis, and video and projection design by Duncan McLean. Ben Hart is the magic consultant. The composer is Steve Brown, alongside movement director Ali James, associate director Hannah Sharkey, and resident director Amy Marchant.
Audience capacity has been reduced to comply with COVID-19 guidelines for social distancing plus risk mitigation. In addition to hand sanitation, face coverings and track and trace, other measures will include contactless tickets, temperature testing, and the deep clean and sanitation of the theatre. The authors and the director will examine various moments in the play in terms of rewrites and restaging to comply with government guidelines.
Producer Kenny Wax said, “We are one of a handful of small/middle scale productions who have low enough running costs to open with a socially distanced audience, and even though we are unlikely to make a profit, we will be employing over 100 staff across the three productions in London and Bath. We are still taking a significant risk without a government backed insurance scheme to cover further business cancellation due to COVID-19.”
Mischief Theatre previously announced that its first show, The Play That Goes Wrong, will reopen at the Duchess Theatre beginning November 19. Both the Vaudeville and the Duchess are owned by Nimax Theatres, which also operates the Lyric (soon to be home to the London return of the musical Six). Nimax venues are among the early adapters of the U.K.'s See It Safely campaign from the Society of London Theatres and UK Theatre (Wax is the president of both).
