■THEATRE
Play within a play hilarious
Review by Deborah S. McGee
Noises Off
Seeing Noises Off at University
Theater is like watching one of the
world’s best juggling acts. Director
Jack Watson performs like Larry
Pisoni in “The Big Juggle” at the
end of Pickle Family Circus per
formances: so much is going on at
such a mad pace, all so brilliantly
balanced, that it leaves the viewer
time for nothing more than a
series of bewondered gasps.
A full-length comedy force in
three acts, Noises Off puts us in
three locations with the same ac
ting troupe at three different nights
of their performances while on
repertory tour. As Act One begins,
we first watch Dotty Otley, or
Mrs. Clackett (Diane Johnson) on
stage, as dotty as her name, bumb
ling and confused, who confuses
us as well until we realize she's
talking to her director . . . who is
that loud man sitting in the au
dience with us. Actually we’re
watching a dress rehearsal of a
play called “Nothing On,” a
British sex force dragging itself out
for another run in the provinces.
Act II continues the play within
a play, only this time we’re behind
the set. It’s a month later in the
tour of “Nothing On.” We see the
backstage reality of all the thea
trics of the previous act, and the
desperate attempts to “salvage the
script.” We witness even more of
the backstage lovers’ games and
the personalities of each character
within a character as they get
caught, literally, with their pants
down.
What a hilarious bunch they are:
the aforementioned Dotty, and
there’s Roger or Gary Lejeune
(Marshall Davis), tax revenue
agent, who can never find the
right word and has what John
Duncan rightly called the best
pratfall in years. There’s show
stopper Brooke Ashton, or Vicki
(Cynthia Besteman), getting the
most mileage out of a hot purple
flounced dress and a black corset.
Dense, wimpy Frederick Fellowes
(John Leistner) can’t handle
anything without screwing it up
royally. Veteran actor David Stuart
Bull plays Selsdon Mowbray,
a.k.a. as The Burglar, a stereo
typed drunkard/rowdy actor. Bull
performs the role with an artful
economy of effort, giving glimpse
of his superb talent, while not up
staging the others.
Throughout, Noises Off is the
best of ensemble work. Other
players are just as excellent: Annie
McGregor is back on the Univer
sity Theater stage, a University of
Oregon doctoral student who
directed last season’s Blood Rela
tions and whose roles in Gypsy
and Madwoman of Chaillot are
unforgettable. The woman has
admirable stage command, and a
finely tuned comedy sense, funny
as fizz playing dizzy Belinda Blair
here, a frustrated social worker
type who tries to patch up every
thing amiss.
Then there’s the belly rumbling
deadpan of Tim Allgood (Rob
Harriman). Marshall Davis plays
Lloyd Dallas with aloof suavity,
the director of the play within the
play. Susan Page takes on the role
of Poppy Norton-Taylor, the direc
tor’s assistant who has her comic
moment in the sun when she pitch
hits for another character who is
suddenly “incapacitated.”
In short, what fools these mor
tals be, in the most loving, laugh
ing sense of the word fool. Each
one embodies a certain self we can
become at our foolhardiest of
moments. Each one appeals
because she/he strongly reflects
some very human trait.
Noises Off should be required
attendance for all who think no
20th century work could equal that
of classic theater comedy. Word
for word, the script is a bawdy
good read in itself. “Behind the
Dressing Room Doors,” a tongue
in cheek description of each char
acter, accompanies program notes.
Photos of each character are on
the wall in the theater lobby, with
a blown-up version of each farcical
program description alongside. In
odd moments of waiting (two
intermissions), perusal of same
puts one in the perfect mood for
this play, which proves the love of
words is alive and well in
literature.
Act IH again puts the audience
into the seats of an audience
watching a month-later production
of “Nothing On.” By now, all
order has totally fallen apart, but
“the show must go on.” The
original script has been skewed so
far off center, all that's left is
ribaldry at its peak. Enjoy, enjoy.
It almost seems a waste to write
this. Noises Off will most likely be
a sell-out, since only four
performances remain, and some
will be frustrated at not getting
tickets. Well, 'tis more the pity,
but the truth is that Saturday night
I laughed harder than at any play
in my life. At the end of Act II,
tears absolutely poured.
Get out your handkerchiefs.
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Uniquely University Theatre Presents
Noises Off
by Michael Frayn
Everyone needs a little comic relief.
"A farce that makes you think as well as laugh."
NY Daily News
Dec. 3,4.5.10.11,12 at 8:00 pm
Saturday matinee Dec. 12 at 2:30
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December 27, 1987 2:30 pm
December 31, 1987 8:00 pm
Silva Concert Hall, Huh Center
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Thursday, Dec. 24
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