Readers who have seen and enjoyed the hilarious 2012 comedy, The Play That Goes Wrong can tip their hat to another play that opened about 40 years ago, Noises Off by Michael Frayn. In both works, done in the play-within-a-play format, actors must contend with missing props, falling set pieces, actors’ physical missteps, inaccurate line readings, and so forth.
While the details of these two works differ, the result is the same: an audience laughing its head off at the unintended “horrors” unfolding onstage. Milwaukee’s venerable Skylight Music Theatre is offering a rich and satisfying production of Noises Off. The play is being presented in Skylight’s regular performing space, one of the city’s most magnificent theaters.
In Noises Off,, the format is poised for comic mayhem: a third-rate troupe of actors is preparing to open their pre-Broadway tryout in no-man’s-land (i.e., Iowa). It’s the final dress rehearsal, a fact that not everyone involved seems to know. (One of the actors repeatedly calls it “the technical rehearsal.”) Here, the cast divulges its first hint of comic mischief. Much of the tryout play’s initial confusion involves a plate of sardines. One of the characters (played by Linda Mugleston) is supposed to carry the sardines on and off the set, an English country cottage. If all goes according to plan, the same plate of sardines appears and disappears in a most confusing fashion, as other guests start arriving unannounced while Mugleston is offstage.
During the course of Noises Off, the tryout play-within-a-play is done three times. All three versions have different physical hurdles that the cast encounters. A series of backstage romances further complicate the plot, leading to even more hilarity as the show continues.
In one of the show’s “pivotal” moments (pun intended), the actual set swings around so the audience sees only the backstage areas. The second act is entirely played out “behind” this gorgeously detailed set (by Todd Rosenthal).
As directed by artistic director Michael Unger, the tryout play must unfold in seemingly random – but meticulously planned – fashion. For instance, the highlights in Act II include props being hastily dropped from the top of the set to the bottom, then caught by someone below just in time for them to make an entrance. There’s also a small bottle of booze that keeps getting passed around, in a company-wide effort to hide it from an older actor (played by Joel Kopischke) who has a well-known drinking problem.
The peak moment of all these kooky hijinks comes when one of the characters (played by Max Christian Pink) takes a tumble from the top of the set to the bottom. He trips at the top of a flight of stairs, somersaults down the stairs, crashes into a chair at the bottom, and rolls over a few times for good measure, until he is almost in the audience’s lap. Pink deserves a standing ovation for this feat, and at least he earns a long round of applause for his efforts.
The Skylight cast is sheer perfection, as each actor creates an indelible character for the audience’s pleasure. Without having space to name everyone in the large cast, a special shout-out goes to well-known local actor Matt Daniels for his role as the show’s “director.” Daniels does whatever it takes to move the show along – whether it means, yelling, cajoling or pleading with the cast - to complete the end of Act I. Later, it’s revealed that he is also guilty of bedding the show’s heroine and also a stagehand. Trying to hold his show together, Daniels must enlist the help of the show’s technical handyman (played by Alexander Johnson) to keep both women appeased, without them discovering what is actually taking place behind their backs. As with everything in Noises Off, these plans go akilter almost immediately. It’s great fun to watch Daniels attempting to steer clear of the female fury that is certainly coming his way.
Since this production is being done by Skylight Music Theater, some musical accompaniment has been added to the show. A beautifully gowned singer, Leah Gawel, offers a few original jazz tunes prior to the show’s opening. She is accompanied by a four-piece band called The Sardines. Two of the band members sit on either side of the stage, while the other two occupy boxes adjacent to the set.
While this opening is a novel one, it wears out its welcome during the two intermissions. The music (played at ear-splitting levels on opening night) continues through at least six numbers during each intermission. This keeps the audience impatiently waiting for the play to resume. It turns out to be too much of a good thing.
Otherwise, this beautifully rendered comic farce is by far the funniest show in Skylight’s strong season of productions.
