Noises Off @ Theatre Arlington
Photo by Jacob Oderberg
—Jan Farrington
Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s 1982 send-up of a traveling theater troupe—and the silly play they take from one hick town to another in 1970s Britain—turns up regularly on stages around the English-speaking world. But doing it right is a challenge, a kind of “final exam” for comic actors.
Happily for us, Theatre Arlington pulls it off (and then some), with the help of savvy director Cheryl Denson and a very funny cast who don’t give us a second to catch our breath. It’s a good thing there are breaks between Acts One and Two: we need the rest.
This is the second of TA’s picks for its 50th anniversary season, and follows another Big British Farce, The Play That Goes Wrong, staged recently (a co-production) at WaterTower Theatre and Stage West. It’s interesting, I think, that area theater makers think we need a healthy dose of crazy comedy in our lives just now. They’re probably right.
The cast is an engaging mix of faces familiar to the company’s stage, plus new ones we hope to see again. TA regular Jakie Cabe leads the pack as harried director Lloyd Dallas. Getting this clunky comedy up and running ought to be enough for him—but he’s carrying on two backstage affairs as well. Cabe’s tightly wound Lloyd is always on the edge of shrieking at the actors, but tries to remember he’s better than that. After all, he does Shakespeare.
Most of the actors double as theater company members plus their character(s) in the stage play. TA newcomer Gigi Cervantes (wonderful as Mrs. Webb in Dallas Theater Center’s Our Town/Nuestro Pueblo) plays actress Dotty (she is, too) and the housekeeper Mrs. Clackett: she’s a dizzy darling who only gets fuzzier on all the bits of stage “business” she’s supposed to keep straight. Especially the plates of sardines. (Kudos to hard-working props maven Robin Dotson and team.)
Also a new face to TA, Leroy Hood plays hilariously confused actor Garry, who can only finish his sentences if he’s following a script. Mattie Lilian Davis plays sexy ingenue Brooke; the cast spends a chunk of each performance searching for her lost contact lens. Brooke is one of Lloyd’s love interests; so is stage manager Poppy (Emily Truelove), who has Something to Tell Her Director.
Brandy Raper (last seen as Mama Rose in TA’s Gypsy) has great comic timing, and plays it smart as Belinda, who’s fast on her feet in a crisis—and there’s always a crisis. She is teamed with Billy Betsill (his TA debut) as her skittish stage husband. He spends much of the play with his pants around his ankles, and steals a scene whenever he can. Rounding out the troupe are David Fenley as always-sloshed Selsdon (say that a few times), an older actor playing a Burglar, on the hunt for the whiskey bottle the cast keeps hiding—and Joshua Nerio as strangely calm Tim Allgood, the company’s all-purpose guy: he fixes things and fills in for “indisposed” Selsdon (even if Selsdon refuses to leave the stage).
There’s no point in trying to describe the plot; somehow we unscramble it as the show goes along. At the start, the actors are eager and willing (though not at all ready to open); in the middle they’re up to silly tricks; and by the end, there’s a sharp axe backstage, and plenty of actors who’d like to use it. But nobody dies, and we’re so happy it’s them and not us. That’s part of the play’s comedy magic: other people’s disasters are funny.
Kevin Brown’s set (a fancy two-story country house for the stage play, a double-level backstage on the flip side) is ooh-ah impressive, and makes good use of the company’s onstage turntable. Karen Potter’s ‘70s costumes are pleasantly period; standouts are Belinda’s wildly colorful abstract print, and Lloyd’s wine-red (and very “mod”) suit—spot-lit dramatically (Bryan Stevenson’s lighting) as he rants at the actors from a side aisle.
Theatre Arlington opened Noises Off on the same night it dedicated a Walk of Fame to honor actors and others who’ve been a part of the theater’s history, often finding success on bigger stages. To use a bit of Brit-speak, TA can be “proper chuffed” (proud) about all of it!
WHEN: Through April 16
WHERE: 305 W. Main Street, Arlington TX
WEB: theatrearlington.org
