WILMINGTON — A mainstay of the UNCW Theatre Department will open his final show this weekend, culminating nearly three decades of teaching and directing into a play that, by design, ends in disaster.
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“The Play That Goes Wrong” written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer and directed by UNCW’s Ed Wagenseller. Wagenseller has been a full-time acting professor at UNCW for 25 years and worked in a part-time capacity for longer. With one, sometimes two, shows to direct per school year, Wagenseller has dozens of student productions ranging from Neil Simon’s “Rumors” to William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.”
Wagenseller told Port City Daily Tuesday he felt, after pouring himself into both teaching and directing for that period of time, he’s now ready for a change.
“I knew the moment I stepped into the theater and didn’t feel grateful and thankful to be here, it was time to go,” he said.
Along with his position at the university, Wagenseller is an actor in his own right, appearing in several shows, including “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “Outer Banks” and “Vice Principals.” Wagenseller also has a real estate business and two kids that are now young adults moving into the entertainment industry. With several 2.5-hour-long classes during the week and six-to-eight-week rehearsal periods for shows, Wagenseller said it was becoming too much to juggle.
Wagenseller didn’t plan for “The Play That Goes Wrong” to be his last show, but noted it was a fitting end for his UNCW tenure.
The show is a play within a play, following a theater troupe as they perform the production “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” The play begins with a missing dog and last-minute scene dressings by the stage manager, who will eventually be recruited into the action after a mishap takes out the main actress. That’s not all — the cast undergoes a number of accidents and calamities throughout the run, all while trying to adhere to thespian doctrine — the show must go on.
While comedies are his currency, “The Play That Goes Wrong” presents a particular challenge for Wagenseller and his cast.
“They’re playing essentially two or three characters at times,” Wagenseller said.
The cast includes junior Ava Emerson Buckley as Sandra, recent graduate Kevin Kosicki as Max, freshman Callum Bridgers as “Dennis,” junior Jadoryon Nicholas as Robert, sophomore Jackson Cooper as Johnathan, sophomore Henry Clickner as Chris, sophomore Amelia Cox as Annie and Ben Wagenseller — yes the outgoing director’s son — as Trevor.
This is the first time Wagenseller has directed his son; he said it’s been a fun experience.
“He’s a natural,” Wagenseller said. “He does some stand-up comedy so he understands timing. He has a natural timing ability, and he’s got a level of maturity in this show — this is a young cast, and so he’s got kind of a level of maturity. I think that brings a little gravitas in his silliness to this cast.”
Ben will graduate at the end of the semester, when Wagenseller is set to retire.
“I do remember thinking if this show falls into the last slot or the second slot of the season, which is the fall slot before Christmas, and if I’m directing, I’m going out on this one,” Wagenseller said.
Though speaking to Port City Daily after his second dress rehearsal Tuesday, the director said he would also probably never opt to direct “The Play That Went Wrong” again.
“It’s hard,” Wagenseller said, laughing. “And I’ve got an incredible design team and crew on it, and it’s gotten tighter and tighter every night. So I’m just real, real pleased and impressed with everybody involved.”
Wagenseller’s production was helped along by fellow professors, including set design by Jenna Houck, lighting by Max Lydy and costumes by Max Sorenson, though the crew is entirely student-managed. The biggest challenge, he said, has been keeping everyone on and behind the stage safe through the many “moving parts” built into the show.
The show includes (spoiler alert) several moments of falling setpieces, ramping up from picture frames to balconies and even an entire wall. But the play relies upon its cast to capitalize on those site gags, especially in the beginning as the plays’ falling parts are smaller.
As Wagenseller said, the play requires a lot of its actors, who have to speak the Haversham Manor dialogue (in British accents nonetheless), while also reacting to the play’s disintegration as the actor cast to play one of the manor’s outlandish personalities.
“If the audience thinks these guys are trying to be funny, we’re dead,” Wagenseller said. “They have to try to put on a good show, and it just goes terribly wrong.”
Every production at UNCW is not just a performance opportunity for wannabe professionals, but a teaching moment for scholars of the department. While Wagenseller is hanging up his teaching cap, he does hope his students take away one lesson from “The Play That Goes Wrong,” one that could apply to the legacy of productions as well.
“Comedy — it’s millimeters from being really funny or just funny or not funny at all,” Wagenseller said. “That in a show like this, it’s the little things that count. It’s the little moments.”
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com or text our tip line at 910-800-6397.
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