“That’s farce.  That’s theatre.  That’s life.”

Back in January, I was invited to observe auditions for the Park Players production of  Noises Off.  Once again, it was terrific fun to see how it all came together.  They do a very good job.  One of the best parts of live theatre is that you never know how it’s going to go.  You can’t know where the laughs will come from.  And it’s very difficult to anticipate in advance the moments and the casting that’ll work.

You can’t even anticipate how it’ll look.  For example, the Set & Lighting Designer (Connor McVey) has put the famous connecting staircase on the right of the stage.  For those of you familiar with the movie version (and other versions, see here and here), it’s usually on the left.  But I found at least one link to another on the right.

Which brings up a cool thing about plays.  How much can you futz around with a script?  I’d never seen the stairs on the right before, but it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.  Likewise, I remember seeing at least one staged version with a big picture window right in the middle of the set.  With the glass I often get to see the offstage (onstage?) characters.  Without it, I’m allowed to use my imagination when I’m listening to out-of-view characters.  It works both ways.

Which reinforces yet another cool thing.  In Noises Off, one major point is that, in the theatre, there’s always at least as much action taking place off-stage as on-stage.  Actors with love triangles, marital problems, money troubles, side projects, you name it.  This is true of any play, I assume.  But if you’re in the audience, you’re unlikely to be much concerned about who any particular actress is in love with.  (Unless they’ve got E! Birmingham or something…)

Essentially in Noises Off, we’ve got <1> real people who have <2> lives as actors becoming <3> characters in a play who are acting as <4> characters in another play.  It’s all very mathematical, really.  A hall of mirrors.  Wheels within wheels.  Billions and billions.  Look at the three pictures: they’re caricatured characters, then charactered actors, then just actors.  Say cheese.

As a general rule, this play provides a big picture window that lets you in on the secret world of offstage action.  But it raised some further metaphysical and philosophical issues.  I wondered throughout: Do the members of the Park Players have any love triangles?  Marital problems?  Money troubles?  Side projects?  While we’re seeing Garry (Cris Morriss) chase Frederick (David Coker) around with an ax onstage, does one of the actors secretly wish they could do the same to anybody else onstage?  To the Director?  To me?  A hall of mirrors.  Wheels within wheels.

When Belinda (Amanda Kramer) knows scandalous information about Dotty (Beth Ashton) in the play, does she also know anything in real life?  Who knows what about whom?  Does it come out onstage?  Off?  And you know that Tim (Steven Ross) and Poppy (Rebecca Yeager) – working as behind-the-scenes crew in the play – may have had at least some hand in crewing the set in real life.  In fact there are always a mess of behind-the-scenes workers adding additional pizazz to the kaleidoscope.  Maybe they’re the ones chasing each other around with flowers or an ax?

Though there’s plenty of great, hilarious action onstage in this play, I also couldn’t help but think that there’s a whole other level of interaction and inside jokes that happen just beyond the audience’s view.  Right through where that big picture window might’ve been.  It’s fun to dream that maybe sometime in the later acts when Brooke (Hannah Wilkerson) runs offstage that she and Selsdon (Jesse Bates) have some sort of touchdown high-five fist-bump handshake they do, just to pass a little time before one of them has to scramble back onstage.  Or maybe other actors share some kind of casually choreographed moment or just a silly look just outside the lights.

A hall of mirrors.  Wheels within wheels.  No matter really, because it’s silly fun and you should see it.  It’s a good time whether or not you take an ounce of time to ponder it.

Thanks to Director Clay Boyce and the Park Players for offering me a chance to see the show.  Finally, did anyone know that there’s a Noises Off study guide?