Lennan the third and final act, the
Lennan TuffyLeah-MartinEnglish 2 Honors12/10/2017Noises off Noises off is a play within a play, where amateur actors perform the play Nothing on. Nothing on is a play about people going in and out of rooms unaware of each other and finding objects moving around in the house, causing surprises and chaos. In the first act, the cast performs their final rehearsal before the night of the show, making many mistakes and getting yelled at by the director. In the second act, the set is rotated and there scene moves onto the backstage, where the performers are quietly threatening to kill each other, while the show is still going on. In the third and final act, the set is rotated again to show the front stage, and the actors perform their last show.
The crew’s relationships has deteriorated so much that no one bothers to stick to the script and it turns into something beyond a farce. Noises off was written by the english playwright Michael Frayn, who is also the author of the play Copenhagen and Democracy. The play premiered in 1982, at the Lyric Theatre in London.
On december 8th 2017, I decided to watch Leigh High School Theater Department’s performance, directed by Mr. Bryan Ringsted. Since Dotty’s role in Nothing on was an English housekeeper, she spoke to other characters in an English accent when playing as Mrs. Clackett in Nothing on and in her normal accent when playing Noises off.
When she forgets to talk in her English accent when performing Nothing on, it adds to her character of making mistakes in the play. Selsdon plays the burglar in Nothing on, but he forgets when he should enter the stage and to be ready backstage because of his drinking habit. His personality in both Noises off and Nothing on surpasses everyone else when it comes to being funny. Although his time on stage is exceptionally less than everyone else, he brought the most laughs and giggles to the audience. The way he revealed that he was the father of Vicki was executed so perfectly that the entire theater laughed out loud.
The set presents the hard work done by the set designers and those who built them. The brightness of the lights and the colorful palette used on front side of the set makes the play appear happy and upbeat; the dimly lit backstage is utilized in conveying the feeling of disarray and anarchy. Everything from the set helps propel the story towards its chaotic ending, both the front and back of the set being altered used differently every set, notably the actors taking the wrong props to the wrong places and rendering doors useless in act 3. The sound was very well executed for the most part. Most of the time, everyone could hear what each character was saying, but occasionally there would be audio glitches and the first few words in someone’s line couldn’t be heard clearly. The costumes worn by the characters was unique that it was easy for the audience to distinguish between each other. I think that the play was very entertaining, and everyone who is interested should watch it.
The story by itself is hilarious, but what makes this production even better is the expert acting and prop usage presented by the cast. The cast did a great job of staying in character for both of their characters, and showing their relationships with one another, which is the definitive factor that makes this play great.
