When I talk about the Goes Wrong characters on this website, I'm mainly envisioning them being played by the stars of The Goes Wrong Show. However, as I've now seen two or three other actors on stage in most of the roles, I thought I'd talk about my favourite performances for each character!
I'll be honest: this page mainly exists so I can sing the praises of Will Bishop, who is a West End Play That Goes Wrong understudy at the time of writing, and who is by far my favourite Robert after Henry Lewis himself. My evil plot is that Mischief Theatre will see my website and cast Bishop as Robert's next principal actor, and then I'll be able to see him in the role seventeen more times.
Maybe it's not actually that evil, as plots go.
Anyway! Excluding the cast of The Goes Wrong Show, here are my favourite actors for each member of the Cornley Drama Society. All of the specified performances were in the West End.
To be honest, this is likely to be biased specifically towards actors who were on for the 11 October 2026 Play That Goes Wrong matinée, because I saw that one from the front row and was therefore more able to appreciate the nuances of the characters' facial expressions. If you'd like a more objective assessment, Mischief, I recommend sending me front-row tickets to see every Goes Wrong cast.
Chris: Daniel Fraser (2025/26 Christmas Carol Goes Wrong). Absolutely perfect Chris Bean; I was blown away by his performance. Beautifully uptight and snippy. Don't tell Henry Shields, but Fraser is in competition with him for my favourite Chris overall; I'm actually sometimes picturing Fraser rather than Shields when I'm writing fanfiction.
Jack Hardwick (2025/26 Play That Goes Wrong) is also a fantastic Chris! He only narrowly misses out on the top spot on account of being forced to compete with perfection.
Robert: Will Bishop (2026/27 Play That Goes Wrong understudy). He's got the gravitas, he's got the volume, he's struck that perfect Robert balance between being dignified and being ridiculous. I think the true test of a Robert actor is 'when he's on stage, is it hard to pay attention to anyone else?', and that's certainly the case for Bishop. Or it was for me, at least; I am forced to acknowledge that I am weirder about Robert than the average person, and there's a chance others may not have exactly the same experience.
I also want to give special mention to Robert Jackson (2025/26 Play That Goes Wrong), who bellowed 'I IMPROVISED' at such extraordinary volume that it's still ringing in my head months later. I think Robert would approve of being played by someone with the correct name.
Sandra: Lucinda Turner (2026/27 Play That Goes Wrong). Perfectly cast! Just the right expression and energy. The way that she held herself felt very Sandra.
Annie: Ruby Ablett (2026/27 Play That Goes Wrong). Very likeable! It was a lot of fun to watch her skipping around the stage, having a hysterical episode.
Dennis: Alex Bird (2026/27 Play That Goes Wrong). I felt so bad for his Dennis! A distressed, confused, out-of-his-depth man who was increasingly upset by the audience's laughter.
Max: Tom Wainwright and Joshua Lendon (2025/26 and 26/27 Play That Goes Wrong) are equally solid in the role, I think!
Jonathan: This is a tricky one! The only non-originating actors I've seen for Jonathan are in The Play That Goes Wrong, in which we don't see much of him; it's rare to see much of Jonathan in anything, really. Tom Quinn (2026/27 Play That Goes Wrong understudy) might take it, if only because he's the only Jonathan I've seen close enough to see his facial expressions, and, as Jonathan is silent for most of The Play That Goes Wrong, a lot of his performance is in the facial expressions.
Trevor: Both Ronnie Yorke and Kieron Michael (2025/26 and 26/27 Play That Goes Wrong) are top-notch Trevors. I will not choose between them and you can't make me. I've even had fun little in-character interactions with both of them, so I can't use that as the deciding factor!
Vanessa: I DEMAND A STAGE PRODUCTION FEATURING VANESSA.
If I accumulate new favourites at future performances, I'll add them to this page!