Review: NOISES OFF at Town Players Of Newtown

“What can go wrong?” “It can’t possible get any worse?” “Everything’s going to be fine.” We’ve all heard it, we’ve all said it. Noises Off proves otherwise. If one has never seen Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, then now is your chance. The Town Players of Newtown, under the direction of Alexis M. Vournazos, have brought Frayn’s raucous masterpiece of “and then it went wrong” to life and left the audience in stitches!

For the uninitiated, Noises Off is a farce about the two-month run of a different, fictional farce, called “Nothing On.” It takes “a play within a play” to a new meaning by bringing you from the final dress rehearsal to closing night of a disasterclass waiting to happen and hitting every pothole on the way down. For those who despise secondhand embarrassment, enter at your own risk.

You can’t review Noises Off without discussing the set, as the set is second most important behind the cast. The set of “Nothing’s On” involves a two story house complete with too many doors: the front door, study, kitchen, bathroom, and more on the first, and another bathroom, a linen closet, the bedroom, and the attic on the second. Therein lies Newtown Players’ first obstacle: Size. Enter Nick Kaye, the set and lighting designer, who not only managed to create the feeling of a double story house, but also made it portable enough to move for Act 2, when the audience gets to glimpse what is happening backstage during an early performance. Their solution was not within limitations, however, as the need to create a three-walled set without the space to place the sidewalls on an angle meant that some patrons on the aisles didn’t get a full view of some of the shenanigans, but rather only glimpses. Luckily, though, there was enough chaos going on that there were plenty of other things to look at, so no harm truly done.

But let’s be honest, the real charm of Noises Off comes from the cast. Noises Off needs- nay, demands- dedication and commitment to the nth degree from an actor: The dedication to fling yourself headfirst into chaos; the commitment to look a-fool and not take oneself too seriously, and a quick wit with superb timing to really nail the comedy. My goodness, this cast has it in spades. From top to bottom, each character has to be played with love, joy, and no modesty. Lloyd Dallas, the director of “Nothing On,” is played by Hugh Tucker, whose tired cynicism left no insult on the table and had the audience laughing in anticipation of what he was going to say next. Dotty Otley, played by Missy Slaymaker-Hanlon, plays Mrs. Clackett in “Nothing On” and has the delightful downspiral from forgetful actress to hysterical diva over the course of three acts with a charm that only Missy can bring to the stage. Garry Lejeune and Brooke Ashton- played by Eric Lyga and Katerine Levasseur, respectively- play Roger Templemain and Vicki in “Nothing On,” where they are a pair of wanna-be lovebirds hiding away in the House, but each with a special twist: Brooke is obsessed with the limelight and Garry is kinda you know, he doesn’t really finish his… You see? Katerine’s constant posing and smiling at the audience was hilarious and the way she always seemed to get in the way of Eric was uncanny. The pair plays off each other stupendously.

Up next are Frederick Fellowes and Belinda Blair, played by Brian DeToma and Kristi McKeever, respectively, who play Philip and Flavia Brent in “Nothing On,” the owners of the residence in which the calamity takes place. The final actor in the show is Selsdon Mowbray, played by Bob Flipowich- who plays the burglar in “Nothing On-” whose constant drunkenness, forgetfulness, and hard of hearing is a constant thorn in the side of the entire cast. Finally, to round out the ensemble, we have Poppy Norton-Taylor and Tim Allgood, the stage manager and builder/understudy/assistant stage manager extraordinaire for “Nothing On,” respectively, who are played by Vicki Sosbe and Rich Lamkin. If anyone pulls off the frazzled stage manager, it’s Vicki, who somehow makes taking all the blame but still managing to pull everything together look easy, when we all know it’s anything but. And Tim… We’re all Tim: Just doing his best and doing what needs to be done. Rich, you embodied that exhausted panic perfectly.

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