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| Noises Off |
If someone wants to know the type of production that Noises Off is, just know that the curtain call is preceded by a Benny Hill-style routine with the nine actors running across the stage of The Long Beach Playhouse and up the stairways, pantomiming a scene of madness set appropriately to "Yakety Sax." In any other show, it would be too dissonant. After the previous two acts, it's the perfect summation of a comedy that starts as a mess and only continues to lose its marbles from there. The results are highly entertaining, featuring several uproarious performances somehow keeping the farce from ever becoming too nonsensical. It's one of those madcap routines that only the most adept actors can pull off, and watching this miracle fold out before an adoring crowd laughing every minute is just as fun as anything on the stage. The results make for a fun night out, and one can only hope that The Playhouse keeps these actors around for more rip-roaring productions.
From the minute that the lights go up on Noises Off, there is something off. A voice rises from the speakers, announcing the test-run for a show called Nothing On. At no point in the proceeding two hours is the phrase "noises off" even mentioned. Had an audience member walked in blindly, they would start the show confused, as if walking into the wrong theater. For the first few minutes, it goes so far as to play out like a typical drama as the homely Dotty Otley (Andrea Stradling) answers a phone as she prepares to eat sardines and watch "the Queen's thingy" on the telly. Sure, there are jokes but the artifice isn't made clear until a minor mistake brings forth the voice of a man playing God (or, in the theater world, a director) in the form of Eric Schiffer (Lloyd Dallas), talking from the ceiling the stage directions. Suddenly it's revealed that this isn't going to be your average theater show. Not only is this a test run, but it's happening in the evening hours leading up to the premiere. Let's just say it doesn't start well and Dotty forgetting to grab a plate of sardines is far from the production's worst areas to work on.
The brilliance of the show is how it deconstructs the very idea of theater. It's a behind the scenes look at a theater troupe doing everything in their power to put a show on. The only issue is that there's an underlying animosity that forms as small mistakes create agitation. Actors like Selsdon Mowbray (Lewis Leighton) have issue learning lines and generally unreliable. For most of the first act, there's a sense that he won't even show up. It wouldn't be out of place, especially given that there's also affairs that come to light and Frederick Fellowes (Travis Wade) has an aversion to violence that causes him to faint more often than not. These issues feel worse because no matter, what their first show is tomorrow and the clock is ticking. There is a need for somebody to take control and when that doesn't happen, it becomes one of the most entertaining looks at a play going wrong.
Nothing On plays out three times over the course of Noises Off. The first may be unpolished, but it has enough context to make the rest comprehensible. There is even subtext that shows characters finding motivation, questioning dialogue, and whether Arab Shieks wear trousers around their ankles. Brooke Ashton (Amara Phelps) whips out a phone whenever Lloyd calls "Cut," and often gets lost in it. Small running gags are developed here that have rewarding punchlines in the other versions of Nothing On. The second performance adds the comical choice to present Nothing On from behind the stage, where actors get into fights moments before walking onstage, all while whispering in order to not break the illusion of the performance, audibly being heard on the other side. The audience wonders how the show is being held together, and frankly... it's not. Even without the context of what's happening, the audience gains an expectation for actors emerging backstage ready to continue a fight or solve prop issues that become weaponized. It's here that the actors get their best moment to shine, as it becomes a stage for physical humor forwarding the plot. Even then, it's a miracle that the adrenalized sequence is held together at all. Blink and you'll miss a pantomime that informs the next five minutes. It's so intricate that even the dumbest joke is set up with some innovation.
The third performance is best experienced in person. It's hard to describe. Still, the idea of seeing the same show three times may seem tedious, but there's enough difference between them that new jokes arise as expectation is broken by outright chaos (the set even falls apart by the end). It's to the credit of the writing that the ending can be full of gibberish, but still captures the growing antipathy of a cast who can't stand working together. Even better, the actors in these roles are so committed to every bit that it becomes surreal. Theater has rarely felt this careless and coherent at the same time. Every piece feels perfectly timed to the millisecond, and most of all it ends the show with an appreciation for the craft. It's not necessarily that these performers learn to work together, but suggests the difficulty for other shows to keep it together. They could easily fall apart and don't. Noises Off is a special case and one that should be cherished as a piece of very smart comedy, where deconstruction leads to destruction by the end, and it still works.
Noises Off is one of those shows that shouldn't work, and yet it does. It defies expectations at every turn, and it's largely because of how fragile the beats are. In lesser hands, the pratfalls and lowbrow humor would feel desperate. The Long Beach Playhouse's excellent cast, it works like a well-oiled machine, never allowing the viewer to rest too long on serious moments. It's a chance to have fun with the very concept of theater, finding actors running around almost as if sped up to reach the next punchline. It's a delightful experience that rewards those wanting something different. It may not always make sense and certain scenes are intentionally confusing, but it's all for the best. It's an experience where the jokes are funnier the more that you pay attention, and if you don't they're pretty good anyways.
The third performance is best experienced in person. It's hard to describe. Still, the idea of seeing the same show three times may seem tedious, but there's enough difference between them that new jokes arise as expectation is broken by outright chaos (the set even falls apart by the end). It's to the credit of the writing that the ending can be full of gibberish, but still captures the growing antipathy of a cast who can't stand working together. Even better, the actors in these roles are so committed to every bit that it becomes surreal. Theater has rarely felt this careless and coherent at the same time. Every piece feels perfectly timed to the millisecond, and most of all it ends the show with an appreciation for the craft. It's not necessarily that these performers learn to work together, but suggests the difficulty for other shows to keep it together. They could easily fall apart and don't. Noises Off is a special case and one that should be cherished as a piece of very smart comedy, where deconstruction leads to destruction by the end, and it still works.
Noises Off is one of those shows that shouldn't work, and yet it does. It defies expectations at every turn, and it's largely because of how fragile the beats are. In lesser hands, the pratfalls and lowbrow humor would feel desperate. The Long Beach Playhouse's excellent cast, it works like a well-oiled machine, never allowing the viewer to rest too long on serious moments. It's a chance to have fun with the very concept of theater, finding actors running around almost as if sped up to reach the next punchline. It's a delightful experience that rewards those wanting something different. It may not always make sense and certain scenes are intentionally confusing, but it's all for the best. It's an experience where the jokes are funnier the more that you pay attention, and if you don't they're pretty good anyways.
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