Adams State Theatre produces Noises Off
The side-splitting, over-the-top comedy Noises Off opens April 26 on the San Luis Valley Federal Bank Main Stage in the Adams State University Theatre Building. Directed by Dr. John Taylor, professor of theatre and co-chair of the Art and Theatre Department, the play has been critically acclaimed as the funniest farce ever written, no joke. Tickets go on sale Monday, April 15.
What makes this a laugh-out-loud production, from curtain rise to final bow, is watching actors playing actors who can’t get anything right and who let their petty jealousies and deteriorating relationships consume them so much they eventually pursue their own agendas with little concern over a now completely failed production. The dialogue is not only lightening quick but cleverly written, the physical comedy has spot on timing and includes an axe, sardines, mistaken identities, romantic intrigue, and lots of slamming doors.
In the first act, third-rate British actors are in final dress rehearsal of the comedy Nothing On and everything that can go wrong, is going wrong and the play opens in only a few hours. Set in 2019, the company of actors try to overcome impossible odds to produce a play taking place in 1985.
The second act opens, and it is a month after opening night and the production is in the middle of a tour. The perspective has rotated 180 degrees. The stage on the stage revolves and now we are privy to backstage as chaos reigns. Amid their personal attacks and bumbling efforts to keep it together the fast-paced comedy shows us a different side of theatre. Will the actors make it through to the end of the play without killing one another? In near silence, actors pantomime their ridiculous self-involved arguments while continuing to step back onstage to repeat lines and try to hold it together in front of an audience, the real audience doesn’t see.
The third part really lets it all loose. The stage has revolved again. These foolish actors have lost it. It is the final production of the play and they have regressed into their own ridiculous personal needs and wants without even trying to follow the script. As the saying goes, “The Show Must Go On” and go on indeed it does, keeping you in stitches.
Although Taylor has successfully directed comedies during his 20-year tenure at Adams State, including “You Can’t Take It With You,” this show is different from his usual choices for directing. “This play has no social message. It is a silly farce with lots of laughs, but it seems to me in today’s world we could all use an evening of levity and laughter.”
The play is set in three parts with one intermission. It is rated PG for a little adult language. Taylor is proud of the work his students have done. It requires a tight-knit ensemble that approaches the performance with boldness and commitment. The exhilarating, madcap comedy demands that the actors execute the physical action with precision while continuing to keep the story moving forward at breakneck speed even as it all falls apart. As the old saying goes, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
Public performances begin at 7:30 p.m. April 26, 27, May 3 and 4; and a matinee begins at 2 p.m. May 5. Tickets go on sale April 15 and are $10 for general public, $9 for seniors and students, and free to Associated Students and Faculty with current Adams State identification. The Box Office is open from 2:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may also be reserved by calling 719-587-8499.
