254 Harding University’s theatre department kicked off the semester with their production of “The Play That Goes Wrong” on the first weekend of the school year. The show was about a theatre company putting on a play, but as the performance continued, everything about it started to go wrong. This show within a show had the audience in an uproar of laughter. Senior Keller Montgomery played Max Bennett, whose character played two roles in the production. “When something goes wrong they’ll have a moment where you see the actor behind the character reacting or trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do, so it’s kind of a couple different layers that are going on,” Montgomery said. Sophomore Aubrey Jones found being an actor in this type of production enjoyable. “Because you’re playing a character who is an actor in a show, you’re playing two layers of character, which is really fun to get to do and get to watch,” Jones said. This play broke the fourth wall, creating a different type of show than Harding had put on in the past. The play even featured crew members as part of the story. Summer Theatre Season Searcy Summer Dinner Theatre performs “The Play That Goes Wrong.” Another factor that went into this production was that faculty acted with the students in the show. Hannah Wood, archives and special collections librarian, and Emily Hutcheson, theatre department administrative assistant and recruiter, were part of the cast and crew in the play. Hutcheson spoke about what it was like working with the students. “It’s so much fun,” Hutcheson said. “Some of the students I already knew before I took the position, and some of them I was students with. We’re both alumni, so it’s really awesome. It’s kind of like a family, just a huge family reunion.” Wood was active with the theatre department when she was in school. “I love seeing and hearing the audience’s reactions because I think it gives us some extra energy when we’re on stage,” Wood said. “The Play That Goes Wrong” was filled with joy and fun that not only the audience remembered, but the cast and crew did too. Written by: Mattie Powers
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