By AARON KRAUSE

If South Florida’s Loxen Entertainment, Inc. does its job well during the nonprofit company’s season-opening show, the actors will seem inept. Indeed, appearing incompetent is the goal for the season opener…and no, that’s not a misprint.

“The whole show needs to look like a disaster, but it needs to run like a well-oiled machine,” says Benjamin Leon IV. He is a cast member and Loxen’s founder/president.

To kick off its 2024-25 season, Loxen will mount a professional production of the Broadway and London hit farcical comedy, The Play That Goes Wrong. The show, which lasts about two hours, will run from Sept. 5-22 at Loxen’s new home, The Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.

“There are a lot of things that need to go right in order for the play to go wrong,” Leon says. Precision is key, he adds.

The Play That Goes Wrong is a play-within-a-play. It follows the misadventures of the fictional amateur Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society. The group is staging a production of The Murder at Haversham Manor, a 1920s murder mystery play similar to The Mousetrap.

In The Murder at Haversham Manor (again, the play within the play), the action takes place on the evening of Charles and Florence’s engagement party during the winter of 1922. A murder occurs and Inspector Carter tries to figure out “Whodunnit.”

Unfortunately for the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, everything seems to go wrong on opening night.

The Play That Goes Wrong has been running in London since 2012 and has run in New York for years as well, including on Broadway.

Because so many things need to go right in order for things to go wrong, Leon says that the cast rehearsed for two more days than it otherwise would have. In fact, the cast has been rehearsing for this show longer than any past Loxen production. Leon says he feels that the extra rehearsal time paid off.

“The actors are killing it (and) the set is beautiful,” he says. “I’m just really excited for people to be able to see it. I think Miami (audiences are) going to be very pleasantly surprised with the production.”

Cast member Hannah Hayley’s family members will be among those experiencing The Play That Goes Wrong.

“I’m so excited and I can’t wait for my family to come down and see it,” she says.

The Play That Goes Wrong marks Haley’s first time performing in Miami. The recent Lynn University graduate (BFA in Acting) previously portrayed Miss Forsythe in Palm Beach Dramaworks’ fairly recent production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

How has her rehearsal experience been? “It has been absolutely lovely,” the young performer says. “My home has always been on stage with a good straight play.”

What does she think of The Play That Goes Wrong?

“It’s just such a funny show that you never know what’s going to happen next,” Hayley says. “I’m having so much fun during rehearsals. It has been an absolute blast.”

Hayley is one of eight cast members. All portray more than one character. In addition to playing their character in The Play That Goes Wrong, the performers play characters in the play within the play — The Murder at Haversham Manor.

Cast member Giorgio Volpe portrays Dennis, a “grossly incompetent” actor who portrays Perkins the Butler in The Murder at Haversham Manor.

Volpe says part of what attracted him is that the piece presents a “real challenge” for performers. In particular, actors performing in the play must be “highly technical and specific” with their choices so that they appear to be incompetent.

Volpe and Hayley also say that creating backstories for their characters helped them. A backstory comprises a character’s history before a play begins. Actors often create a backstory as part of their preparation for a role.

Volpe has been a professional actor since March 2017. Among other roles, he portrayed the MC in Area Stage Company’s 2018 production of Cabaret.

Volpe’s advice for audience members before they experience this show is to “come with a good sense of humor.”

But while The Play That Goes Wrong is about the theater, you don’t have to like live theater to find this piece meaningful, Volpe says.

“I think we all want to see people (persevere at) something and succeed,” he adds. And The Play That Goes Wrong is about a group of people persevering while trying to succeed.

Loxen was able to secure The Colony Theatre for its shows for the foreseeable future. Miami New Drama, the Colony’s resident company, was “very kind” to allow Loxen to perform there as well, Leon says.

“We think it’s one of the most beautiful theaters here in Miami,” Leon says. “When the opportunity arose (to use the Colony Theatre) it was a no-brainer.”

The group is a not-for-profit professional company dedicated to providing artistic opportunities to talented individuals living and working in South Florida, fostering their growth, as well as the growth of the entire arts community in the area.

The Play That Goes Wrong is one of at least three shows that Loxen will present this season. The others are the musicals Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Dec. 13-22) and The Drowsy Chaperone (Feb. 28-March 9).

If there’s a common thread that links the shows, it’s that they are all light-hearted comedies that are family friendly, Leon says.

Up until now, Loxen has mounted productions of musicals. They include In the Heights, Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Young Frankenstein.

The company “does particularly well” with musical comedies, Leon says. But The Play That Goes Wrong, the company’s first straight play, presents Loxen’s toughest challenge yet, he adds.

But “even if you don’t like theater, (you) will love (The Play That Goes Wrong.) I promise,” he says. He adds the comedy is broad, and you will likely laugh at something.

IF YOU GO

WHO: Loxen Entertainment, Inc.

WHAT: The Play That Goes Wrong

WHEN: Sept. 5-22

WHERE: The Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach

TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION: Go to www.loxen.org.