Max Bennett

From The Royal Variety Performance (2015)

Max Bennett is a member of the Cornley Drama Society. His first production was *The Murder At Haversham Manor,* during whichhe was a first year studying Human Geography and Crime at Cornley Polytechnic.

## Personality

Max is a happy-go-lucky member of the society. He is often a supporting player but has a passion for acting nevertheless. He's actually one of the better actors of the bunch (when he's not too busy mugging for the audience) but is relegated to bit roles. In *The Goes Wrong Show* episode "The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1", Robert ranks the 8 Cornley members in terms of acting ability and is placed at number 5, just before those he considers "sub-actors," and even commends Max's instincts during the following exercise, Max has the habit of often breaking character to smile and interact with the audience and labelling his stage props with his name. Despite his inability to remain in character, he remembers all of his lines and has a high amount of enthusiasm on stage. During an exercise Robert introduced in his 'acting masterclass', where they were forced to try and force out tears by tensing up, Max was the only one able to do so: however, he had filled the measuring jug and appeared to have been emotionally drained by it, as he despondently said 'I don't know' when Robert asked if he was alright.

Max generally plays any part as himself - even in Haversham Manor where he plays two very different characters. This means that his performance can be affected by his emotions, for better or worse. In "Peter Pan", as a last minute stand-in for another actor he realises he is about to kiss - on stage - a girl he has a crush (and she knows he does). In Christmas Carol, his performance in a scene where Young Scrooge learns from his fiancee (played by Sandra) that she is breaking off their engagement is extremely convincing because he has just overheard an offstage conversation leading him to believe that Sandra also wants to move on from her relationship with him. However his distress is still evident in the next scene in which he struggles to be a suitably merry Ghost of Christmas Present and is visibly still fighting back tears.

Max does not appear to be a very good fighter - in the fight between CDS and the BBC on the set of "A Christmas Carol", he was caught in a headlock by octogenarian Sir Derek Jacobi, and had to be rescued by Sandra.

Max isn't above trying to cause problems during performances if he thinks things are funny. He will often break character or play to the audience, often repeating actions which made them laugh. The most extreme case occurs in "The Most Lamentable..." where he forces Chris to copy his ridiculous pronunciation while they are cast as twins, with the final pronunciation driving Max to tears of joy as he struggles to contain his laughter. His clowning frequently irritates Chris and Robert (particularly in "Harpers Locket") , but Sandra gently but firmly refuses to let him upstage her (particularly in the mortuary scene in "The Trial" - where he is the corpse!). He is sensible enough not to try any clowning with Vanessa or Dennis, neither of whom can cope well with off-script horseplay. However, he is rarely the first person to cause things to go wrong: generally, by the time he starts messing with the performance, everyone, both the cast and audience, is aware how badly things are going, and Max is simply continuing the tone of the night.

He is probably the kindest member of the Company, being supportive of his castmates no matter the situation, such as encouraging Trevor when he is forced to take over a role in *The Play That Goes Wrong*, or helping out Dennis on his play in "The Cornley Drama Festival." Nevertheless, he comes off as rather dim, due to his childlike naivety and behavior onstage. Max wrote the script for Doctor Frog, a sketch about a frog who is a doctor. He took it as a compliment when Robert called it dross. Max likes bubblegum and takes milk sachets from the studio canteen, as evidenced in the Goes Wrong Show episode Harper's Locket.

His family is affluent, with large portions of his inheritance and donations from other family members often being the only thing keeping the Cornley Drama Society afloat. In Peter Pan, it is revealed that his aunt runs the BBC, which is why CDS are allowed to perform "Peter Pan". After the disaster of Peter Pan it seems that even with his Aunt they don't get hired to perform the Christmas show, resulting them to forcibly take over A Christmas Carol. His Aunt may still being pulling string for them as the crew is able to get a regular slot on the play of the week (The Goes Wrong Show) despite all their plays going badly.

## Relationships

### Sandra Wilkinson

During The Murder At Haversham Manor, Max did not seem to hold any romantic feelings for Sandra, although they play the parts of lovers in Act 1, and resort to kissing when Dennis, as Perkins, is supposed to interrupt them but misses his cue. In Act 2 Max's new character, Arthur the Gardener, avoids her persistent attempts to seduce him. Max is gentlemanly enough to avoid even looking at Sandra, who is in a state of undress (as Annie has taken her costume), until Sandra inists he does so, as the script requires.

During the filming of Peter Pan there are several incidents where private conversations with Chris are played, one of these being a recording of Max asking to play Peter Pan and another one where Chris and Robert talk about Max having a crush on Sandra. The recording of Max asking to play Peter Pan also has him reveal that he thinks he is in love with Sandra, and that she could be his soulmate. These recordings are played during the play resulting in Sandra hearing them and Max getting embarrassed, though Sandra does appear to be touched to hear Max's feelings. At the time of the play Sandra is in a relationship with Jonathan which ends when she catches him kissing Annie. At the end of the play the pirate ship crashes into the nursery set and Max pushes Sandra out of the way before it hits her. She realises that Max saved her from getting hurt and kisses him.

By the time of "A Christmas Carol" they are dating, though it is unknown how much time has passed since Peter Pan. During the filming of a Green screen effect, the effect fails and instead plays a small clip from Dennis's birthday party. Sandra is seen telling Annie that she wants to stop dating Max, and intends to tell him after the show. Max sees this and takes it to mean that she is planning to break up with him which isn't helped by another clip being played later where it looks like Sandra is kissing Chris at the same party. He remains cool towrads her for the rest of the show, to her puzzlement (for example, she expects at least a kiss after she rescues him from an assailant in the battle between CDS and the BBC) At the end of the play Sandra interrupts to say she has something to say to say to Max, and confirms that she does indeed want to stop dating Max - because she wants to get married. But it is only when she goes down on one knee and proposes that Max realises that the man she wants to marry is him.

We see little of their relationship in "the Goes Wrong Show", although she does tend to indulge his clowning more than most - see for example the mortuary scene in "The Trial". In the Nativity they are seen leaving together, having changed into street clothes, when the fire alarm goes off.

### Chris Bean

He seems to like hanging around Chris, but Chris only keeps him around because his parents put a lot of money into the society. Chris only gets annoyed with him when he is messing about and "playing to the gallery"

### Trevor Watson

This one is complicated and the relationship differs between productions of "Haversham Manor". When both Annie and Sandra get knocked out, Trevor stands in as Florence Colleymore for a brief moment, in which Florence finally succeeds in getting Arthur to kiss her. But since this role is now played by Trevor he says that he won't kiss another man and that spectators don't want to see that. In some productions, the audience in this moment cheers them and Max eagerly throws himself towards Trevor and passionately kisses him, although in the published script it is Trevor who is keener on the idea.

### Jonathan Harris

They both joined CDS around the same time, and were (offscreen) love rivals over Sandra for a while. In Peter Pan, Jonathan insults him on stage, but they all seem to get over their differences by the end and Max wins over Sandra anyway.

### Lucy Grove

Max and Lucy are portrayed as having similar personalities, with them both being sweet and innocent. During Peter Pan, Lucy starts a "I believe in fairies" chant when Annie is injured and Max is the first one to take up the chant along with her, with Lucy shown to be smiling when Max joins in.

### Robert Grove

In "The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1" Robert runs an acting class where he lines up the rest of the Society's from best to worst based on their acting skills. He puts Max at number 5 which would but towards the middle of the group, and put him in the good actor section. However, Robert initially didn't view Max as a good actor, as in 'Peter Pan Goes Wrong', a clip of audio that wasn't meant to be heard had Robert claiming that Max can't act. When Robert introduced an exercise to get them to force tears by tensing up and literally forcing them out, Max was the only to do so: he had filled the jug. Robert showed concern for Max at this point, showing that he does care about him. Robert does, however, get angry when Max starts engaging in horesplay - for example in "Harper's Locket" where, on being instructed by Robert's character to turn out his pockets, Max produces a number of items not normally expected in a 19th century setting, such as a credit card.

### Annie Twilloil

Although they rarely act across from each other (they are cast as a married couple in "Spirit of Christmas", but due to the plot of that episode they do not share the screen much), Max and Annie seem to have the least dysfunctional relationship among the entire Cornley cast. They seem to share an awareness of how ridiculous the show can get, and are less likely to panic and more likely to roll with the punches when things go wrong. They are occasionally seen fist-bumping each other in the background of scenes.

## Roles

* Cecil Haversham/Gardener - The Murder At Haversham Manor
* Michael/Crocodile - Peter Pan
* Young Scrooge/Ghost of Christmas Present/Collector/Undertaker - A Christmas Carol

#### The Goes Wrong Show

* Lawrence (Belle's father) - The Spirit of Christmas
* Moncrieffe - The Pilot (Not the Pilot)
* Nigel Terence Inwood - A Trial to Watch
* Tony (salesman) - The Lodge
* Harper - Harper's Locket
* Larry Burgess - 90 Degrees
* Joseph - The Nativity
* Jacob - Summer Once Again
* Prince Louis - The Most Lamentable...
* Ol' Cook Wallace - There Is No Escape
* Himself/Plate/Spider - The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1
* Himself/Peter Bodkin/Shop Keeper/Window Cleaner - The Cornley Drama Festival Part 2

#### Mentioned

* Steven - Lost Island
* Glen - It's Just Not Cricket

## Actors

The role of Max Bennett was originated by Dave Hearn.

Both The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong are live performances, and there are a number of actors that have played the role of Max Bennett throughout the years.

### List of Actors

* Dave Hearn: Portrayed by him in the original and broadway cast of The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Both BBC and West End Productions), A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (BBC), and the Goes Wrong Show.
* Bobby Hirston (West End & UK Tour)
* Ned Noyes (US Tour)
* Matt Walker (Off-Broadway)
* Alex Mandell
* Matt Cavendish (Understudied Max for *The Play That Goes Wrong* on Broadway, took over the role for *Peter Pan Goes Wrong* on Broadway)
* James Marlowe
* Jarred Webb (Broadway in Chicago)