Fasten your
seatbelts for a wild ride through the very
inventive imagination of Michael Frayn,
Tony Award-winning British novelist and
playwright, who has concocted "Noises Off,"
a fizzy farce that sends up both farce itself
and the English theater.
How the nine
excellent performers and the set will last
another month in this knockabout script
is difficult to imagine: Act II alone would
kill a mere mortal. But the artistic team
at Curtain Call knows how to keep screws
loose and tight as needed.
"Noises Off"
is, in fact, a play within a play. In Act
I we watch an English touring company's
last-minute rehearsal of a play called "Nothing
On." It takes place in a living room, off
of which are six doors. (Hmmmm. Imagine
all those doors opening and shutting with
split-second timing and you have the essence
of farce.)
Actress Dottie
Otley (Pat Hoffman) is having trouble handling
a couple of props; indeed, Dottie is aptly
named. The voice of director Lloyd Dallas
(Aaron S. Holbritter), coming from the light
booth, interrupts the rehearsal and instructs
her about what to do with the newspaper,
the phone, and the damned plate of sardines.
Shortly thereafter,
the other members of this acting troupe
appear in their parts onstage. During Act
I we learn everything we need to know about
the play they're doing and their personalities.
Then, in Acts II and III, Frayn hysterically
conflates the performance of "Nothing On"
with the backstage real-life problems (nosebleeds,
romantic intrigue, professional insecurity,
and a love of the sauce, to name a few)
of the actors performing it.
It's to the
credit of Frayn and director Philip C. Rice
that we can identify nine distinct personalities.
Kris Anderson as Gary Lejeune dashes around
and pratfalls in the best Dick Van Dyke
tradition; Monica Cangero's Belinda Lamb,
an old pro, believably breezes through the
proceedings trying to soothe everybody's
bad temper. Jack Fallon's Selsdon Mowbray
is delectable raw ham.
Jessica Guyon,
who also designed the costumes for "Noises
Off," sweetly plays the earnest and brow-beaten
young props mistress. Steven Leifer is delightful
as the Method-driven Frederick Fellowes.
Todd Meredith brings amusing nervous energy
to Tim, the understudy and gofer.
Joanna Palladino
humorously makes Brooke Ashton a dumb blond
who really isn't. And Holbritter's exasperated
Dallas and Hoffman's weary and perplexed
Dottie handsomely complete the cast.
Individually
and as an ensemble these performers are
at the top of their game. Rice gets first-rate
support from set designers Michael &
John Blau (with a nod to master carpenter
Peter Max)and the rest of Curtain Call's
professional tech team.
Any faults on
opening night? A missed line here and there.
And the physical comedy seemed forced at
times. (Ironically, most of us like to sit
close to the action, yet in this situation
being at a greater distance from the stage
might make us happily less privy to the
work of the actors.)
But these are
the kinds of flaws that can be corrected
during the course of the run. Frayn has
written a tongue-in-cheek love letter to
his profession, so if you have ever worked
in the theater, you'll roar. (Read the fake
program for "Nothing On" for more amusement.)
Even if you haven't, however, you're in
for a hoot.
