Ora Jones, Audrey Francis and James Vincent Meredith (Photo by Jeff Lorch)
Reviewed by Madison Mellon
Geffen Playhouse
Through March 9
RECOMMENDED
Few plays capture the trials and tribulations of putting on a show as effectively as Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s classic farce that takes audiences both in front of and behind the curtain of a disastrous theatrical production. It is both a sendup of and a love letter to live theater. Currently playing at the Geffen Playhouse, the show remains an impressive feat of comedic engineering, showcasing carefully choreographed slapstick and more sardines than you can shake a stick at. While Noises Off may have lost some of its novelty since its premiere in 1982, the Geffen’s slick and high-energy production ensures it is still a delightfully entertaining romp.
Noises Off follows a hapless theatre troupe attempting to mount a shoddy sex farce called Nothing On. The play is structured in three acts, with each act showing a different perspective on the troubled production, and following the cast from the final dress rehearsal to closing night. Infighting, incompetence, and romantic entanglements threaten to derail the production as simmering tensions among the cast and crew gradually escalate into pure chaos.
In the decades since it was first produced, Noises Off has undeniably begun to show its age. The “ditzy blonde” stereotype embodied by Brooke Ashton (Amanda Fink) feels somewhat tired, and the philandering director (Rick Holmes) juggling affairs with his cast and crew is played purely for laughs with little more than an eyebrow raise from the other characters. Additionally, modern iterations of Noises Off’s premise, most notably The Play That Goes Wrong, do make this show feel less novel than it once did. That being said, Frayn’s original remains an incredibly well-crafted farce, and this production’s expert pacing makes the two and a half hour runtime fly by.
The Geffen’s production confidently hits all the marks, with director Anna D. Shapiro balancing all the show’s many moving pieces. The two-story revolving set (designed by Todd Rosenthal) is a feat in itself, showing multiple perspectives and accommodating each stunt and gag required by the script. Every moving part — door slams, plates of sardines, rogue props — must function with split-second timing, and this production manages the choreography with precision. The other design elements (particularly sound design by Cricket S. Myers and costume design by Izumi Inaba) also contribute to the hijinks and coordinate together seamlessly. At times, particularly in the third act, the character’s antics almost feel too ‘safe’ and controlled. The production does an excellent job of gradually ramping up the chaos, but there are moments that could have been heightened to completely push it off the rails.
There isn’t a weak link in the cast, with each member of the ensemble establishing their unique onstage and offstage personas quickly and effectively. The onstage couple Belinda Blair/ Flavia Brent (Audrey Francis) and Frederick Fellowes/ Phillip Brent (Al’Jaleel McGhee) are especially funny. McGhee’s deadpan self-seriousness contrasts with the increasingly manic action, and Francis’ physicality and her vain attempts to hold the crumbling cast and crew together are very entertaining.
While Noises Off offers little room for reinterpretation, the Geffen’s production is a well-oiled machine, delivering a fast and funny spectacle. It is extremely by-the-book, but thanks to a strong cast and airtight direction, it is still a technically impressive and rewarding farce.
Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles. Wed.-Fri., 8 pm, Sat., 3 pm & 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm & 7 pm; thru March 9. www.geffenplayhouse.org Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes with two intermissions.
