Noises Off

At The Stanley until February 23, 2020
Tickets from $29 at artsclub.com or 604-687-1644

Posted February 13, 2020

Farce, in the wrong hands, can be as dreary as the rainiest January since 1930. But, under Scott Bellis’s fantastic direction and with a stellar cast of nine, playwright Michael Frayn’s 1982 farce will beat the blahs out of you faster than you can say “sardines”.

Why sardines? Well, a plate of sardines makes its way through Noises Off from curtain up to curtain down: on the table,  off the table, on the sofa, on the floor, in the wings. Stepped on, sat on, slipped on. Mother Nature’s gift to those trying to boost their omega-3 fatty acid intake, these little oily fish (that may have got their name from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia) loom large in what has been described as the funniest farce ever written.

In Act One – on a Ted Roberts’ set of the interior of a gracious English country manor – we are the audience at the full dress rehearsal of Nothing On, the play-within-a-play. Dotty (Colleen Winton), the actor playing the housekeeper of the place, is staging a comeback (or maybe performing her swansong) but she’s incapable of remembering where to put the newspaper, the telephone or the plate of sardines before exiting stage left. Lloyd (Andrew McNee), the actor playing the frustrated director, shouts instructions at her from the darkened theatre. They’ve only had one week of rehearsals and the play opens tomorrow. They are so not ready.

Act 1 starts the slow build to what we all anticipate will end in complete pandemonium – and that’s the fun of Noises Off.

In the play-within-the-play, ditzy blond Brooke (Tess Degenstein) and posturing boyfriend Garry (Charlie Gallant) arrive at the house, believing they are alone for a romantic tryst. But shortly thereafter Belinda (Emma Slipp) and Frederick (Jovanni Sy) also turn up with the same expectation – a sexy weekend all alone. All sorts of ridiculous shenanigans ensue.

But then the set revolves – to well-deserved applause at the matinee I attended – and we now see the backstage area of Nothing On:  ladders, props tables, buckets, mops, the stage and props managers – all the paraphernalia of the backstage. More than that, we see the breakdown of the relationships amongst the actors: who is romancing whom, who has a drinking problem or murderous intent. How can the show possibly go on? Yet it must.

Pulling this stuff off requires major skill and this cast is fantastic. Blocking, choreographing and executing bedlam requires split-second timing and intense, constant focus. Director Bellis makes sure everyone is in motion; something is always going on somewhere. It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle that’s constantly moving. And to watch it unfold – or unravel – is pure joy.

Everyone is doing the heavy lifting in this production; there’s no room for slackers when there are flights of stairs to fall down, an axe on stage, many doors to open and shut – and that plate of sardines to contend with.

As in commedia dell’arte, there are stock characters. Tess Degenstein is absolutely delightful as the dumb blond actor Brooke who, regardless of how the play is falling apart around her, continues to deliver her lines as if all’s well. Charlie Gallant, as her lover, is a cock-of-the-walk posturer, constantly striking ‘manly’ poses to titillate the girlfriend. (Gallant takes a spectacular fall down a flight of stairs that would be the envy of stuntmen worldwide.) Slipp, as Belinda, is the take-charge person who tries to keep Selsdon (Andy Maton) away from the bottle of scotch and to conceal from assistant stage manager Poppy (Ming Hudson) that Lloyd is cheating on her. McNee (as Lloyd) never fails to bring the house down in whatever he does; he’s just the maestro of funny. “What’s. That. Dad?” will never, ever, by any actor, be delivered better than McNee spits it out. (And Degenstein’s response to the line is a winner, too.)

Jovanni Sy runs around with his pants down; Nora McLellan charms with her fuzzy ‘out-of-it’ portrayal as the stage manager, and Colleen Winton is convincingly dotty as Dotty.

Noises Off is liking putting a bunch of actors in a blender and turning it on high. It’s hilarious and, once the laughter dies down, you recognize and appreciate the skill level that’s required to make it all work. For a really good belly-laugh, don’t miss it. Critics and audiences alike are making a lot of noise about it – and it’s all good.