SEATTLE – “Noises Off” is flat-out hilarious.
And the Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of Michael Frayn’s classic farce is controlled pandemonium from start to finish, delivered by a crack cast with the precision of a Swiss watch.
But there’s nothing mechanical about this production.
“Noises Off” zings along over three giddy acts of classic slapstick comedy and sight gags galore – slamming doors, falling props, flying sardines, drooping drawers and mistaken identities – until the actors and the audience are ready to drop, the first from exhaustion the second from laughter.
Frayn’s clever comedy, a play within a play, is about a troupe of wacko English actors who are touring a production of the lame sex farce “Nothing On.”
The setting is an English country house, where the antics of this oddball crew are seen both onstage and backstage with the aid of John Iacovelli’s ingenious double-sided set.
In Act 1, the actors are on stage and in the final dress rehearsal for “Nothing On,” the play within “Noises Off.”
It’s only the first act, but already they are missing their cues and their marks, flubbing lines and dropping sardines left and right while their director (Mark Chamberlin) is doing a slow burn from a seat in the audience.
In Act 2, the play has been on the road for a month, and the actors are seen backstage, where their messy personal lives and the calamity unfolding on stage converge with comic mayhem.
Act 3 begins a month later, and the set is reversed again to show us the actors back on stage where they are staggering through a disastrous performance of “Nothing On.”
The gloves are off and the result is a glorious mess, with the troupe doing everything but lobbing a bomb into the proceedings.
It’s all funny stuff delivered at break-neck speed, especially since it’s not us up there on stage, dropping our trousers or falling head first down a flight of stairs.
“Noises Off” is full of pratfalls and split-second timing, and it’s beautifully performed.
Lori Larsen is a delight as Dotty, a slightly daft English actress of uncertain age whose comic turn as a befuddled maid is a performance worthy of Lucille Ball.
Bradford Farwell is the dim-bulb Garry. He’s got a point – really he does – he just can’t find the words to say what it is.
Bhama Roget has a field day as Brooke, a ditzy blond bombshell with an acting style that’s best described as wooden but with lots of really big arm gestures.
Michael Patton plays the sensitive Frederick, prone to nosebleeds and fainting spells, and the durable Clayton Corzatte brings a boozy kind of dignity to the role of Seldon. Separating him and his bottle is one of many running gags.
Suzanne Bouchard is Belinda, the backstage buttinsky whose efforts at peace making are met with more chaos, and Stephanie Timm and Mark Anders are the overwhelmed stagehands, easy targets for the dysfunctional troupe of actors.
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