A Noise Within re-revives its all-time biggest money-maker, Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, guaranteeing audiences two-and-a-half hours of comedic bliss, and not just in Acts One, Two, and Three. This farce-to-end-all-farces is so out-and-out hilarious, you may even find yourself experiencing delayed-reaction laughter during intermissions.

Imagine the most well-meaning but inept group of actors ever to “grace” an English stage. Imagine the mishaps of the under-rehearsed troupe at their final dress rehearsal. Imagine the backstage chaos when romantic liaisons between cast members have gone haywire. Imagine the utter disaster of their closing performance after two months of disastrous touring.

 Imagine all this and what you’ve got are three of the most hilarious acts ever written for the English stage, a masterful juxtapositioning of slammed doors, double entendres, and physical comedy shtick in a play that both epitomizes farce and redefines it with its triple-scenario format.

Characters don’t get more outlandish than:

 Dotty Otley (Deborah Strang), the regional theater staple heading the cast of “Nothing’s On,” an actress of a certain age who can’t even begin to master the multiple bits of stage business required of her.

Garry Lejeune (Kasey Mahaffy), the play-within-a-play’s romantic protagonist growing increasingly suspicious of paramour Dotty’s relationship with a rival castmate.

Frederick Fellowes (Jeremy Rabb), a method actor all too susceptible to nosebleeds and dropped drawers, and incapable even of moving a box from here to there without examining his “motivation.”

 Belinda Blair (Jill Hill), arguably the sanest member of the company (that is if any of them can be considered completely sane), who may harbor a secret crush on Freddie.

Brooke Ashton (Emily Kosloski), a leggy blonde with the IQ of a pigeon and difficulty keeping her contact lenses from popping out.

Selsdon Mowbray (Apollo Dukakis), a grizzled stage vet whose morning “coffee” gets served from flasks kept hidden in just about every nook and cranny he can find.

Poppy Norton-Taylor (Erika Soto), the trouple’s overly emotional assistant stage manager who doubles as understudy to both its resident bimbo and its resident alcoholic.

Tim Algood (Rafael Goldstein), stage manager, understudy for Selsdon and Freddy, and all-around gofer and goof-up.

And last but not least, Lloyd Dallas, Nothing On’s temperamental director, increasingly at the end of his rope as his cast of misfits find new ways to screw up.

As Noises Off (and Nothing On) continue on their accident-prone course, expect to see actors draped with sheets, Brooke stripped down to her underwear, and Frederick with his pants round his ankles.

 Expect too to witness cues missed, entrances mistimed, and sardines spilled here, there and everywhere under Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott’s finely hewn direction, and if you’re not laughing so hard it hurts, you will at the very least have a smile on your face.

Crème-de-la-crème A Noise Within-ers Dukakis, Elliott, Hill, Kosloski, and Strang recreate roles they originated back at ANW’s old Glendale space back in 2009, then reprised two years later when ANW moved to its state-of-the-art Pasadena digs, with Goldstein, Mahaffy, Rabb, and Soto integrated so seamlessly into this wondrous mix that audiences will be forgiven for assuming they’ve been part of the team from the get-go.

 Scenic designer Fred Kinney gives us both the country house set on which Nothing’s On takes place (meticulously appointed by prop masters Sydney Russell and Erin Waley) and its backstage frame, the kind stage actors know only too well but audiences rarely get to glimpse.

Ken Booth’s vibrant lighting, Jeff Gardner’s comedy-enhancing sound design (and ‘60s-style theme song), Angela Balogh Calin’s costumes (period and character-defining perfection for both play-within-a-play players and backstage crew), and Klint Flowers’ equally spot-on wigs merit cheers as well, as does dialect coaching by Nike Doukas, who has the all-American cast sounding authentically Brit.

Samantha Sintef is stage manager and Jacob Houser is assistant stage manager.

Following the dramatic fireworks of A Raisin In The Sun and Henry V, Michael Frayn’s Noises Off will have you laughing from lights up curtain calls and beyond. It’s the perfect cure for the springtime blues.

A Noise Within, 3352 East Foothill Blvd, Pasadena.
www.ANoiseWithin.org

–Steven Stanley
April 29, 2018
Photos: Craig Schwartz

Tags: A Noise Within, Los Angeles Theater Review, Michael Frayn