Reviewed by Dr. Tiffany Raymond, PhD
In Patrick Cannon‘s debut season as new artistic director at Little Lake Theatre Company, he brings the farce Noises Off to Little Lake for its venue premiere.
Editors note: The part of Freddie was scheduled to be played John Herrman in Little Lake Theatre’s production of Noises Off However Freddie was played by Elias Diamond for the run of the show when Mr. Herrman contracted COVID. Unfortunately, our reviewer missed the pre-show announcement of the cast change. Our sincere apologies for missing the change of actors. This post has been updated to reflect the change.
Playwright Michael Frayn‘s 1982 play within a play has not aged well in the era of TikTok attention spans.
Act One’s dress rehearsal is then heard from backstage in Act Two and is again seen from the front of house in Act Three. If Frayn’s writing was more relevant, it would help. Endless lines around a plate of sardines that shuttles (or fails to shuttle) on and off set wears as thin as a toddler looping on “Baby Shark” long before act one is done, given the dress rehearsal’s many stops, starts, and rewinds.
The play finds a lively stride in act two with the backstage view. Going backstage lets us see what is typically unseen when attending a play. As backstage must remain quiet during the play, it becomes a histrionic setting for Buster Keaton-inspired pratfalls and exaggerated movements in the absence of being able to communicate verbally.
The ad nauseam repetition across three long acts feels dated and tedious. Between the acts, complex set changes slow the play even more, an optimization note for set designer Jared Pfennigwerth.
Despite this, Director Ponny Conomos Jahn keeps the pace swirling and frenetic. It’s visually exciting and challenging to absorb all of the action as the actors move on stage and back off again, doors open and close rapid-fire to delay the discovery of multiple people in the same space when each group thinks of themselves alone. Brooke’s (Erika Krenn) sexy quip onstage turns nauseated eye roll as soon as she’s backstage. Props are misplaced (and misused), and onstage cues have to be repeated as the maelstrom devolves backstage.
There’s supposed to be an offstage romance between Dotty (Mary Randolph) and Garry (Ross Kobelak), but the May/December nature of Jahn’s casting robs that romance of any sizzle as it instead feels barely plausible. The director of the play within the play, Lloyd (Greg Caridi), is a gem. A long career of coaxing subpar talent has left him with a certain perennial low-grade exhaustion. He’s delightfully self-effacing with a keen resignation when he notes he’ll handle a diva starlet with “a certain faded charm.” His pleather blazer and white turtleneck give him the air of an aging Paul McCartney. Jahn cultivates an easy and authentic banter between the play’s husband and wife, Belinda (Kauleen Cloutier) and Freddie (Elias Diamond), which is suggestive of a long-time, enduring couple.
What Noises Off does reaffirm is the absolute uniqueness of live theatre. When watching (or rewatching) a film, you may observe new details, but the final cut is the same. In theatre, despite working from the same script for each production, differences in physical theatrical spaces, the turning of phrases, and the shifting interpersonal dynamics of humans create rich variability and unpredictability. The theatre is relatable; it awakens the reminder that we are all fallible, vulnerable humans, not perfect silver-screen forms. There is joy in that realization, particularly in a world where it’s easy to get caught up in an illusion of perfection often staged via social media. Noises Off reminds us to honor, embrace and find humor in the grand messiness of being human.
‘Noises Off’ plays at Little Lake Theatre Company through June 19th. To learn more and purchase tickets for the show, please visit https://www.littlelake.org
Categories: Reviews
Alex,
Thanks for reading our review. We always welcome comments and opinions on our work and our reviewers.
I did confirm late yesterday the casting change for Freddie and a note has been placed at the top of the review and actor’s neme was corrected. Unfortunately the reviewer missed the pre-show announcement of the change to Elias Diamonf playing Freddie. (Note- the on line program, which we use to check for corect spelling and crediting still reflects Mr. Herrman playing Freddie. )
While reviews are opinions from the writer, the facts need to be correct and we sincerely apologize for not reporting the change of actors.
Ms. Raymond’s doctorate is from the Universty of Southern California in 20th Century American Drama.
George Hoover – Editor
George,
Doing a little research of my own, I found Ms. Raymond’s education to be as follows:
From 2003 to 2007 (4 years) Los Angeles, CADoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences @ University of Southern California
From 2001 to 2009 Master’s Degree, College of Arts & Sciences @ University of Tennessee-Knoxville
From 1999 to 2001 Bachelor’s Degree, Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences @ University of Arkansas From 1995 to 1999
I know Philosophy is the degree for research in many fields. The “P” in PhD as it were. I don’t really see anything about 20th Century Drama listed in Ms. Raymond’s credentials. The fact that she didn’t research the casting requirements for this 20th century play, leaves one skeptical. In fact, the actress plying Dottie came in later in the rehearsal process because the original actress got COVID. The original actress is about 5 years OLDER. I found this out, doing some RESEARCH.
However, I don’t care if her degree was in Animal Husbandry. A theater review is no place for microaggression (indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group). ageism (prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age) or body shaming (the action or practice of humiliating someone by making mocking or critical comments about their body shape or size).
I don’t have any relationship to this production, other than a friend told me about it and how fun it was. I found it to be hilarious. However, I do work with many organizations and companies to recognize biases and microaggression in the workplace.
I sent this review to a number of my colleagues before writing my original reply, to see what their reaction would be. Every single one of them, reacted the same way I did. Some didn’t see the show, but they still found it unacceptable.
What began as me reading this review out of curiosity, ended up being quite offensive. In the future, you may want to take a better look at what your reviews publish, unless you don’t care if your publication is regarded as a biased online paper.
To be fair, I’m more a September. October, at the most… Mary Randolph