Portland Center Stage opens its 2026 mainstage calendar with ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ farce

A new year at The Armory begins with a comedy built on controlled chaos

Portland Center Stage will begin its 2026 mainstage programming with The Play That Goes Wrong, a farce scheduled to run from Jan. 18 through Feb. 15, 2026, at The Armory in the Pearl District. The production is billed as a co-production with Seattle Repertory Theatre and is directed by Dámaso Rodríguez.

The show’s premise is simple by design: a fictional amateur troupe, the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, attempts to stage a 1920s-style murder mystery titled Murder of Haversham Manor. The comedy derives from the performance unraveling in real time as technical failures and onstage mishaps compound, pushing actors and crew into a high-wire attempt to reach the final curtain.

Schedule, run time, and audience access information

Previews are scheduled for Jan. 18–22, followed by regular evening performances Wednesday through Sunday at 7:30 p.m., with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. The listed run time is approximately two hours and 10 minutes, including one intermission.

• Venue: Portland Center Stage at The Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave., Portland
• Run: Jan. 18–Feb. 15, 2026 (previews Jan. 18–22)
• Run time: About 2 hours, 10 minutes (includes intermission)

Assistive listening devices are available for performances. The company also lists a BIPOC Affinity Night for the 7:30 p.m. performance on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.

Where the production sits in Portland Center Stage’s larger season

The January-to-February comedy is positioned as a gateway into the organization’s broader 2025–26 lineup, which continues through late June. Announced mainstage titles and dates include Lizard Boy (March 1–29, 2026), the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fat Ham (April 19–May 17, 2026, presented as a co-production with Portland Playhouse), and Storm Large Makes it Home (June 12–28, 2026) for a limited run.

In The Play That Goes Wrong, the joke is not simply that errors happen, but that the production keeps attempting to continue despite them.

Originally written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer, The Play That Goes Wrong first gained international recognition after winning the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2015. Portland’s staging arrives as part of a season that pairs comedic craft with contemporary work and local collaborations, anchored by the company’s downtown venue.