Noises Off runs from February 16-19 and it is a wonderful play to see if you are in the mood for a laugh. I saw the play on February 16 and it was held at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. The set of the play was incredible and it looked so realistic. The synopsis of the play was that it was basically a play within a play and their were three different performances and perspectives portrayed. The cast included 9 actors, 6 of which were playing actors. The other three actors played the director, stage manager, and assistance manager.
The first act of the play gave an insight into the dress rehearsal of Nothing On, the play that was being put on by Otstar Productions Ltd. It was a great time because everything went wrong with the play although it was implied that a very small amount of time remained for the show to be fixed. The director of the play was furious and had a climactic shouting match with one of the actors which was thoroughly entertaining. The cast of the play included an arrogant and inarticulate man, a silly and ditzy lady, another man and woman, a house-sitter with her head in the clouds, and an alcoholic. There was a short intermission after the first act was over.
The second act of the play showed the audience the backstage workings of Nothing On, which was arguably more funny even than the first act. This showed even more disfunction as the characters brawled backstage or forgot their cues, and chaos ensued. The set was amazing in that it could be turned 180 degrees and work as the backstage set. The second set was just as beautiful as the first and the lighting change helped contribute to the backstage atmosphere. This showed a real performance of Nothing On that was a wreck. Although if it had been a real play I feel it still would have been entertaining because disfunction can be hilarious.
The third act of Noises Off disintegrated the quickest of the three acts because it was the most disorderly performances of the fictional play, Nothing On. This act was shown in the perspective of the audience of Nothing On like in the first act, but it was an actual performance of the play. The cast did not even make it through the entire play this time since so much went wrong. In fact, the stage managers even had to step in as part of the cast to cover for those who missed their cues.
Sometimes it is nice to see things go wrong in a play because it makes the cast feel more human and this play connected chaos with humor in a non-chaotic way. It is interesting to think about how difficult it must have been to do the out of sync actions in sync. This play obviously took a lot of practice and choreography and it came together beautifully!
To purchase tickets or learn more about Noises Off, check out this website:
http://www.music.umich.edu/performances_events/productions/2011-12/noisesoff.htm
