Never has the saying ‘timing is everything’ been more apt than in any production of the play Noises Off written by Michael Frayn.
Friday night’s opening at the Notre Dame de Namur Theater had timing down pat. And it is absolutely necessary in the hilarious farce originally performed on Broadway in 1992. A comedy that wears very well, it is a timeless lampoon of theater, actors, and directors.
The play, done in three acts, is somewhat similar to Groundhog Day doing the same thing over and over but getting decidedly different results.
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Act one is during dress rehearsal, act two is act one, as seen from backstage at a later date, and act three is act one as seen from the audience after opening. All in the living room of a country home.
Are you confused? Well, not nearly as much as the actors, who can’t seem to get a firm hold of their scripts their props or their timing.
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The action and fun weaves in and out of the play within the play.
George Metropulos is the sarcastic and much put-upon director, Lloyd DALLAS, who is also having an affair with the starlet, Brooke Ashton, who has two problems, one her contact lens falls out frequently and everyone has to stop what they are doing to help find it (it is usually in her eye) and two, she spends a good part of the play in her underwear.
Garry LeJeune, a somewhat uptight and confused weekend date, (brilliantly and athletically played by John Babin) tries to keep her hidden from the comings and goings of other visitors to the house, including a Sheik and a burglar.
Mrs. Clacket, Morgan Christine Lewis, the housekeeper of the much used getaway , and keeper of the sardines. (You have to see the play. They are important).
Poppy Norton – Taylor, Stage Manager in the play, through no fault of her own, frequently blamed for the actors' arguments.
Belinda Blair, who tries to keep peace and a level head amongst the actions of the rest of the players.
Frederick Fellowes, whose wife has just left him and is in debt to the tax people. He gets nosebleeds when he is upset. Played by John Paul Manfredi, Jr.
Tim Allgood, all round good guy and fixer of doorknobs and doors.
And finally, Selsdon Mowbray, an over-the-hill Shakespearian player with a love of the bottle, which he manages to keep at hand (and mouth) played by Ian Hazdovac.
If you will take your seats, the play will start in three minutes.
Kudos to Michael Elkin, director, whose production brought the play to life for us.
FARCE: from the Encyclopaedia Britannica
A comic dramatic piece that uses highly improbable situations, stereotyped characters, extravagant exaggeration and violent horseplay. (All of which happens, to our delight)
NDNU Theater April 15-16 7:30 p.m., April 17, 2:00 p.m.
