'Noises Off' production turns confusion, chaos into comedy

Pain, confusion, chaos, anxiety.

Those words usually aren't the terms that come to mind when one thinks about humor -- unless it's not you who's experiences them.

In the Southeast Missouri State University Department of Theatre and Dance's 2006-2007 season opener, "Noises Off," pain, confusion and chaos take on a whole new meaning. Somewhere between the stage and the Rose Theatre seats, they become funny, funny and more funny.

For the cast of mixed-up, impulsive and sometimes despicable characters, the three acts that make up the roughly two-hour performance of "Noises Off" are filled with one crisis after another. But as with any good farce, those crises form the razor-sharp backbone of a near non-stop laugh fest. Other people's pain is a rich comic gold mine. "Noises Off" must have tapped the Klondike.

Die-hard theater fans and students of the art are intimately familiar with the acclaimed play. Written by Brit Michael Frayn in 1982, "Noises Off" is a clever take on the age-old play-within-a-play format. The play follows the story of a traveling production of the fictional play "Nothing On," also a farce.

In the grand English style, witty dialogue that nitpicks every aspect of every movement and word by every character gets the action rolling in the first act and the humor only picks up from there. As time progresses through the three acts, we see a steady degradation of the psyches of the cast of scoundrels and saints working on "Nothing On," until they're laid bare on stage during the performance's last night.

By the time the curtain rises on that third act, the social and psychological breakdown is complete, and "Nothing On" is funnier than it would have been if the fictional play weren't in a state of breakdown.

The cast of characters -- or rather characters playing characters -- are quirky and fun. The washed-up, drunk theater vet Selsdon Mowbray (Charles Davis) always has the right line at the right time. Community theater vet Bart Elfrink is a natural in the role of the egocentric director Lloyd Dallas, who keeps referring to himself as "God" and plays women like musical instruments.

Andrew Tebo also shines at Frederick Fellowes, an insecure coward of a man who faints at just the mention of blood. The entire ensemble does a great job bringing this play-within-a-play to life, with some help in the English accent department by an actual Brit, Southeast music department instructor Paul Thompson.

Dennis Seyer had a grand undertaking set design, an intricate two-sided two-story background with doors, doors and more doors that barely fits on the Rose Theatre stage. Handling the fast-paced second act, dominated by physical comedy and almost absent of dialogue, also had to be a great feat of patience and attention to detail.

"Noises Off" starts the 2006-2007 season with a bang. Go see it. I promise you'll laugh -- a lot.

msanders@semissourian.com

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