Nancy Zamit Photo: supplied
West End and Broadway weren't the dream when UK theatremaker Nancy Zamit co-founded Mischief Theatre in 2008, but the idea of being paid to do improv was. For this group of drama school students and friends, that would have been enough. But 16 years later, 2024 is perhaps the first time Zamit feels she can take a step back and have a breather.
It started with a group wanting to take an improv show to the Edinburgh Festival and “they needed more ladies,” recalls Zamit.
“Classic. Improv always needs more ladies and I was one of those. I did a really raunchy improvised song.”
That was the first of nine years at the Festival and The Play that Goes Wrong became their first scripted show. The incredibly physical and improv-style show saw the actors leaning into what they naturally enjoyed; falling over, throwing each other around and laughing at each other.
“It’s what we collectively liked and we’re really different people as a group. So the comedy we produced, in its nature, turned out to be commercial because we’re such a varied bunch.”
Photo: supplied
Their first show however, The Murder at Haversham Manor, at the Old Red Lion in Islington, London, was “too meta” and audiences left the theatre thinking it was real. It prompted a title change to: The Play That Goes Wrong.
There was a transfer to a small theatre in Charing Cross before their now-producers went to see the show.
“We felt so proud we had come so far without big financial backing. That part of the story gets blurred sometimes because it seems like money got pumped in - West End transfer.”
The theatre company was doing 11-show weeks, day jobs on top of that and seven-minute turnarounds. It soon became clear it wouldn’t be sustainable.
But then their producers saw the show, offered the group a big UK tour before heading to the West End.
Peter Pan Goes Wrong is the latest work from the writers of The Play That Goes Wrong. Photo:
Mischief has a slew of productions under its belt including Peter Pan Goes Wrong, A Comedy About a Bank Robbery, and Groan Ups.
But in 2020, the pandemic hit. It was a tumultuous, unpredictable and challenging time for the creative industry. Overnight, shows on the West End were halted and for some, cancelled.
“It was very abrupt. It was tools down. One day we were doing the show and the next day, you couldn’t even enter the theatre.”
At the time, Zamit was in Magic Goes Wrong. It involved “cartwheels and crazy dancing” and keeping her body fit, flexible and show-ready was a challenge when the show was on hold indefinitely.
Like many artists during Covid-19, they had to be innovative and pivot. Mischief Comedy tapped into their back-up plans which meant going back to their roots - improv.
During lockdown, the company live-streamed improv shows on Zoom, beaming out to a global audience; the extent of their reach is something they’re still discovering today.
“A lot of feedback we’ve had in the past five years - from meeting people at Stage Door and our fan base - is that the period of improvised shows had a massive impact on how people got through the pandemic.”
The shows meant the actors were able to continue earning money throughout the pandemic with steady ticket sales and at one point, there was a 12,000 person online audience.
The company were then able to film their second series of the Goes Wrong Show with BBC, but without a live audience. This was another new challenge for a show that depends and thrives on audience interaction and laughs.
This year marks 10 years on the West End for Mischief Theatre.
“Next stop - Broadway!” - that was the joke between the Mischief members for years until it came true. Twice.
On Broadway, they were joined on stage by esteemed guests including comedy actors Ellie Kemper (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Office) and Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother). Working with these Hollywood comedy heavyweights is a story Zamit never thought she’d be telling.
In 2015, The Play That Goes Wrong was nominated and won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.
“We didn’t even realise what that meant at the time.
“We did a show half-an-hour before the show (awards) started and we had to stop sweating, get our clothes on, go full glam and walk the red carpet.
By the time we got there - we couldn’t believe it. It was just amazing to be there. And then to actually win it - I was just crying. It was crazy and it’s still utterly bonkers.”
Nancy Zamit spoke to RNZ Culture 101’s Perlina Lau.
