Noises off

Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
A Noise Within  
Through May 26

Arguably one of the funniest farces in the contemporary British canon, Michael Frayn’s 1982 play revolves around a touring company of actors attempting to stage a frolicsome sex comedy called “Nothing On.” An American company intent on staging this piece needs three essential elements: an ensemble with a mastery of British accents, an understanding of the British sensibility (there’s an embedded irony that Americans lack), and impeccable timing.

All of the above are in scant supply in A Noise Within’s current production. The play is co-directed by Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez Elliot, who settle for manic pacing and broad-stroke comedy in place of a character-driven dynamic hewn with truth and precision.

In Act I, the actors in the play-within-a-play stumble through a tech rehearsal fraught with mishaps — some are technical, like a broken door, while others stem from the inattention or dimwittedness of the players. Act 2, transpiring backstage a month later, takes place with the tour in progress; this time the problems arise from the romantic entanglements within the ensemble: a broken-off love affair between an older actress Dotty (Deborah Strang) and an insanely jealous younger man (Kasey Mahaffey), and a triangle involving the two-timing director (Geoff Elliott), the timid stage manager Poppy (Erika Soto) and the ditsy leading ingenue (Emily Kosloski). Act 3 is a culmination of the disasters wrought in Act 2 and spills over into a performance no longer having much to do with the play they’re presenting.

The problem is that — with the notable exception of Apollo Dukakis as a forgetful elderly thespian who likes his whisky — the performances are thin; in Act 1, the personalities of the actors outside the play-within-a play don’t seem any more developed than the stock characters they are depicting. This is underscored by the stilted-sounding speech patterns. (Perhaps it’s the actors concentration on getting them right that drains their energy away from fundamental character-building. Or perhaps they are under-rehearsed — there are some very solid talents here not performing up to par.)

The production picks up in the second act, mainly because the plot is so cleverly engineered and its riffs so hilarious — a descriptive I don’t often use but here it’s absolutely appropriate. Mahaffey gets to showcase his strengths as a performer gifted in physical shtick, and Strang finally displays her comic chops in a solo scene in which the character of Dotty lives up to her name.

A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena; performed in rep, call for schedule; through May 26. (656) 356-3100(656) 356-3100(656) 356-3100356-3100, anoisewithin.org. Running time: two hours and 25 minutes with two intermissions.