By TR Robertson Photos Rich Soublet
It’s chaotic, loud, silly, quickly paced, full of slap stick comedy and above all absolutely hilarious. These will be your impressions of the Old Globe Theatre’s latest play, “Noises Off”. The comedy was written by English playwright Michael Frayn and premiered at the Lyric Theatre in London in 1982. “Noises Off” is a farcical play within a play. Frayn has said the idea came to him when he watched another play he had written from the theatre wings and decided the action behind the scenes was funnier than what was happening on stage. The result was a one act play, “Exits”, which would later be expanded into the three-act play “Noises Off”, a play that has a great time making fun of actors, directors, stage crew, and playwrights.
“Noises Off” was nominated for 4 Tony Awards and 4 Drama Desk Awards. It first appeared on stage on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in 1983. The play would be made into a film in 1992, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Carol Burnett, John Ritter and Christopher Reeve. The Old Globe production is directed by Gordon Greenberg and is performed on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.
The basic Story of “Noises Off” centers around a production company preparing for the first opening of a play, at the Grand Theatre, Weston-super-Mare, called “Nothing On”. Act I has the actors dealing with their director who is making a series of changes for Act I as he works with 6 high strung actors and actresses and 2 equally frustrating crew members. The cast misses’ cues, entrances and lines, has trouble with props (especially a reoccurring plate of sardines), goes in and outdoors slamming them over and over, and to make things even more chaotic, the play is set to open the next day. The director is fit to be tied by the end of the act.
Act II takes place one month later at a performance at the Theatre Royal, Ashton-under-Lyne. This act is seen from backstage using a two-level set that rotates 180 degrees. This time the cast is at each other’s throats. The act is full of quarrels. Lover’s fights, romantic rivalries, issues with flowers, and total chaos that will lead to near serious damage inflicted by an ax. All of the backstage action takes place while the troupe is also performing the first act on the other side of the set.
Act III takes place in the living room of the Brents’ country home after the play had been on the road for ten weeks. The play is set to open at the Municipal Theatre, Stockon-on-Tess. Relationships are so strained, no one is getting along with anyone. As they perform, sabotage is underway. Props are misplaced and the play may never be on stage again unless someone can step in, even if it means ad-libbing and taking the play in a new direction.
To pull off this high energy and quickly paced play a veteran cast capable of great timing and handling physically demanding situations is needed and The Globe has assembled just such a cast. Playing the exasperated director, Lloyd Dallas, is James Waterson. Garry Lejeune is played by Nehal Joshi. Joshi might have set a world record for the number of times an actor goes in and out doors on stage. As Garry, he has a great deal of trouble finishing sentences with something other than “you know”. Linda Mugleston plays Dotty Otley, who is fond of Garry, has trouble remembering her lines and continually makes sure sardines are on the set. Playing the flighty Brooke Ashton is Michelle Veintimilla. Booke constantly loses her contact lenses and Michelle is a wonderful physical comedic performer in her presentation of Brooke. Freddie Fellowes is played by Jefferson Mays. Freddie has a constant nosebleed and faints at the sight of blood. Belinda Blair is played by Bryonha Maria. Belinda is the most stable of the performers and tries to save the production by ad-libbing when chaos flies around her. Selsdon Mowbray is played by Orville Mendoza. Selsdon is an older actor struggling with his lines and always looking for a good drink. The cast will spend a lot of time in Act III hiding a whiskey bottle from him. Abby Leigh Huffstetler plays the love-struck Poppy Norton-Taylor. Poppy, the less than competent Stage Manager, is supposed to know where everyone should be, but rarely gets it right. Last, but not least, Matthew Patrick Davis plays Tim Allgood. Matthew is very funny as Tim must step into other roles when needed, repair anything that breaks and keep track of Lloyd’s needs.
The timing required, coordination, stage presence and a cast capable of handling these key elements are al necessary for “Noises Off” and this cast handles all of this and more. After all, you need to know exactly where to be on stage at all times, so you don’t get hit by an occasional sardine or ax. Helping with all of this is Director Gordon Greenberg’s Creative Team of Scenic Designer Todd Rosenthal, Costume Designer Izumi Inaba, Lighting Designer Amanda Zieve, Sound Designer Connor Wang, Voice and Dialect Lauren Lovett, Casting Geoff Josselson, Production Stage Manager Anjee Nero and perhaps the key member of the team who handles the teaching and coordination of the tremendous amount of physical comedy required for this play, the Stunt Coordinator Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum. It should also be mentioned that Todd Rosenthal’s two-story set in Act II is impressive in adding to this play in a play. The cast and the creative team accomplish this by presenting an extremely entertaining and hilarious production that has the audience standing and loudly applauding as well as leaving the theatre with smiles on their faces.
If you need a little humor and fun in your life and something you can enjoy and escape to for several hours, you need to see “Noises Off”. The comedy will be on stage at The Old Globe Theatre until August 10th. Tickets can be purchased be going to www.theoldglobe.org or call 619-234-5623. Opening August 9th at The Old Globe will be the psychological mystery thriller “Deceived”, by Johanna Wright and Patty Jameson.
Lastly, some words of comedic wisdom from “Noises Off”, spoken by Selsdon, “When all around you is strife and uncertainty, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned plate of sardines.”
