Tuesday, January 21, 2025

PA Players stages farce, 'Noises Off'

Kimberly Mohne Hill as Dotty in the opening scene. (Photo by Scott Lasky)

 

Presented by Palo Alto Players, Michael Frayn’s “Noises Off” looks at a third-rate English theater company rehearsing and then staging the world premiere of “Nothing On.”

The three-act farce starts with the final dress rehearsal. The second act takes place backstage during a performance about a month after the opening. The final act shows a performance from the audience’s perspective.

Each act gets progressively more frantic as the performers’ nerves are frayed and lines are botched. Jealousies emerge, as do outright efforts to sabotage the show.

As the show opens, Lloyd (Kyle Dayrit), the director, is trying to oversee Dotty (Kimberly Mohne Hill), the housekeeper of an English country home, as she deals with a telephone, newspaper and sardines (which figure into the action throughout the play), but she keeps botching her scene.

After she exits, lovers Garry (Brandon Silberstein) and the dense Brooke (Adriana Hokk) arrive for a tryst

While they’re checking out a bedroom, the home’s owners, Frederick (William Rhea) and Belinda (Michelle Skinner) unexpectedly return from Spain.

Also involved in the action are the stage managers, Poppy (Sierra Bolar) and Tim (Braden Taylor), and another actor, Selsdon (David Boyll), who plays a burglar.

As directed by Linda Piccone, each cast member creates an idiosyncratic character.

Noteworthy among them is Skinner as Belinda, who develops into a peacemaker, and Boyll as Selsdon, who has a fondness for drinking.

However, the performers’ English accents and Gregorio Perez’s low-volume sound design obscure some lines and plot developments.

Otherwise, the show benefits from Camryn Lang’s set design with its seven doors to be slammed, so essential in a farce.

Also beneficial are Katie Strawn’s costumes, Rue Zadik’s lighting and Katie O’Bryon Champlin’s coordination of fights and stunts.

The show runs about two and a half hours with one 15-minute intermission followed by a 10-minute pause. It continues through Feb. 2 at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

For tickets and information, call (650) 329-0891 or visit www.paplayers.org.

 

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