Circle Players brings backstage antics front and center with 'Noises Off'

October 17, 3:31 PMNashville Entertainment ExaminerJonathan Pinkerton

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Circle Player's cast of Noises Off now playing thru November 1 at The Looby Theatre

While attending the final dress rehearsal for Circle Players' current production of Michael Frayn's British farce, Noises Off, I couldn't help but think of something Dolly Parton has said many times, "Honey, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap."   With Director Patrick Kramer and his perfectly cast troupe of misfits, that infamous quote could easily be rewritten as: "It takes a lot of talent to play bad actors".

You see, Noises Off (which gets its title from the theatrical term for backstage noises heard from the wings of a theater) is a quickly-paced farce of a play-within-a-play. Presented in three acts, the audience witnesses the funny but eventual self-destruction of an English theatre troupe's road company of a really bad play.
The first act takes place in the late hours of the final dress rehearsal of Nothing On, a really cheesy sex farce that takes place at a small English cottage, just prior to opening night, so the fact that it was Circle Players' final dress when I attended seemed absolutely fitting.

While the original 1982 play and it's more recent 2001 Broadway revival take place in Britain, a lesser know, but equally funny 1992 film version directed by controversial director, Peter Bogdanovich, and starring Carol Burnett and John Ritter among others, switched the location stateside. I wondered, if for the sake of saving the audience from potentially bad English accents, Kramer might follow suit and use the good ole USA for Circle's mounting. I have to admit, after the disappointment of hearing some lame attempts at accents during Circle's recent production of Fame: The Musical, I secretly hoped for the later, but as soon as the voice over made the announcements with a British accent, I knew we were about to see the play as it was written, and rightly so.

"I never once thought of setting the show in the States.  When I read the script the first thought I had was 'Wow...this script is very English!" and quite frankly I loved it more just for that fact.  The cadence of the English dialogue just really helps the pacing of the show as far as I'm concerned.  So I knew I wanted to keep the show strictly 'across the pond' from day one," revealed Kramer.

Any misgivings I might have had about Noises Off's cast being able to carry off British accents was dashed the minute the delightful Carol Griffin took to the stage as Dotty, an actress of a certain age playing the part of a less than enthusiastic housekeeper in the play-within-the-play, Nothing On. When she speaks her first lines as Mrs. Clackett, the housekeeper, her cockney intonations bring to mind the voice of Liza Doolittle--before she got it.   As soon as Dotty flubs a line, she speaks in a very proper English accent--quite fun considering Carol herself is a Tennessee native.

As the rehearsal for Nothing On continues, we are introduced to the rest of the cast of characters for both Nothing On and Noises Off. One of only three actors who doesn't play a dual role is Alan Lee as the the director, Lloyd Dallas, Not to be left out, while Lee plays a single character in the play, he is part of a love triangle with Assistant Stage Manager Poppy and Brooke, the sexy young starlet. Being familiar with Patrick and Alan for their previous work with another local theatre company, I asked Patrick if Alan was his first choice for the role. "Yes he was my first choice...but he also had to audition.  The character Lloyd is custom made for Alan and when I realized I could actually get him for the show I was thrilled!" said Kramer. 

The remaining ensemble has also seemingly been perfectly cast. Making his Circle Players debut is Aaron Echols as Roger, a randy real estate agent who is using the house for his own personal liaisons. As the actor, Echols presents the character as a bit of a hothead who never really ends a sentence, but rather assumes everyone knows what he is talking about. It is revealed that he is involved with Dotty.

Brooke, Roger's aforementioned liaison is played by an inexperienced actress in the context of the play-within-the-play, brought seemlessly to life by another first time Circle Player actor, Brittany Byrd. Byrd spends most of her time on stage dressed in sexy lingerie that would make even Victoria tell secrets, and gets some of the biggest laughs in the first act by uttering a single word. Byrd plays the quintessential dim beauty to the hilt.

Rounding out the equally amusing cast are Maggie Pitt as Poppy, the stage manager who is in love with the director; Joe Shepherd as Freddy, a self-loathing ne'er-do-well who's wife has recently left him; Kellye Mitchell as Belinda, the perky actress who seems to know all the juicy details about her follow cast mates, Jeremy Maxwell as Tim, a simple minded stage hand and understudy; and Joe Brennan as Selsdon, a lovable drunk-of-a-has-been.

The second act begins with the set flipped around allowing the audience to witness the hilarious backstage goings on. Now that the audience has been let in on the relationships of the actors and their is privy to their faults, The title of the play seems to take on another meaning during the second act as the backstage brawls that ensue take place in near silence due to the fact that the play is being presented on the other side of the set at the same time. Kramer's direction of the shenanigans and fisticuffs happening while Nothing On is being horribly performed for the audience on the other side of the set, as seen through the window in the center of the cottage set piece is masterful and reminiscent of the best of silent movie slapstick. With the flipping of the set, the importance of the set and the way it is constructed becomes evident. I asked Patrick who constructed the set and if it was based on a previous production of Noises Off. "Jim Manning designed the set and it is a slight adaptation of a previous version of the set he had constructed for another theatre.  We had the added challenges of really having to be creative fitting that large mobile set on the Looby's limited space and Jim did a killer job at that!" revealed Patrick.

For the third and final act, the set turns again as the audience is present for yet another performance of Nothing On, this time we are the audience for one of the final tour stops of a long and tedious run, whose problems onstage escalate because of the overlapping personal issues of the actors playing the parts. As is pointed out in several points in the play, it's all about doorways and sardines. Of the numerous doorway and rapid fire entrances and exits, Patrick explained, "We had the added luxury that Jim actually had the majority of the set complete before we had out first rehearsal!  Because of that we were able to block the show from day one utilizing all the doors which was a major help!  After that...it was an issue of timing.  There is a very specific rhythm to the exits and entrances in this show and a large portion of the rehearsals was just getting that timing correct.  My cast were great at listening and reacting and thus timing those door spots perfectly."

While the first act seems a bit lengthy (after all, Nothing On is a pretty bad play and the unending flubbed lines necessitate seemingly endless rehearsals), it's imperative to set up the characters and for plot exposition so the audience can see how quickly the play can decline when its actors are consumed by their backstage relationship issues, including sexual affairs, jealousies, drunken benders and the ever-present mistaken circumstances. The second act is a laugh riot, but it's the third act, where the actors are so done with the whole production, and each other that they can barely get through their lines, completely miss cues, lose their clothes and eventually give in to their circumstances that the truly talented cast and their director, both fictional and real are shown in their best light.
Given that the first act is funny, the second hysterical and the third, just manic, I was curious to learn what challenges Patrick faced as the director to work with material who's strongest point comes in the middle. "The play is really constructed like a great roller-coaster.  Act one acting as the lift hill...slowly building anticipation with maybe a few dips and twists along the way to build excitement.  Act two is where the ride lets loose!  Sending you on a seemingly out of control trip that feels like it's about to come off the rails at any moment..  Lastly act three consists of added disorienting inversions and loops just to set you off balance before leading you to the end of the ride.  That's Noises Off for me.  Act two really is the meat of the show and what most audiences have come to see.  The precision of the act and the chaos it involves is a ballet of sorts and really is the heart of the production.  With act three I wanted to just never let up on the laughs so I crammed as many bits in there as possible hoping to always leaving the audiences wanting more." explained Patrick.

Noises Off continues its run with performances through November 1.

Up next at Circle Players is the holiday favorite, Mame with performances December 4-19.

Patrick Kramer will be directing Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol for Davidson Academy and then after the first of the year, he will be directing Moon Over Buffalo for Towne Centre Theatre.

To purchase tickets for Noises Off or any of the upcoming Circle Players season, CLICK HERE.

Check out the preview of Noises Off

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