Interview: Laura Nicholas, director of NOISES OFF! at Centre Stage

There is no laughter quite like the gut-busting guffaws generated by a good farce.

And Noises Off! is quite possibly the greatest farce of them all.

Centre Stage opens a new production of this door-slamming classic this week. We asked director Laura Nicholas to give us a preview.

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BWW: Noises Off! is a classic farce that takes place in and around the calamitous production of a play. Have you had many instances of life imitating art during the rehearsal process?

LN: I do find myself constantly thinking of real-life examples of things that happen in the show! Just this past weekend during a run, an actor left a prop onstage that wasn't supposed to be there, another actor totally missed an entrance, and someone's costume malfunctioned, but the actors kept going and attempted to cover it anyway trying not to laugh at the irony of it all! The mishaps and conflicts that happen in the show really do happen in real life, although Noises Off takes those instances to an extreme. That's part of what makes this show funny, especially if you have been involved in theater before! As Michael Frayn pointed out in his writing of the script, sometimes what happens backstage is just as entertaining as what happens onstage, but I'll leave that up to the audience to decide.

For anyone who's not familiar with the show, can you please briefly describe it?

Noises Off has been described as a farce of faces and one of the funniest shows ever performed (tough shoes to fill for anyone producing it!). It brilliantly captures the real-life dramas and complexities that occur backstage, typically out of the view of the audience, and the ramifications of those complications onstage. Act I depicts a touring theater troupe onstage during the last dress rehearsal before opening night. Stress is high, and there are obvious difficulties (very common, by the way, during actual dress rehearsals!). Act II depicts that same troupe four weeks into the run, but this time backstage during a performance. Cast couples and love triangles are in turmoil, lines are forgotten, and props fly all over the stage in precarious ways! Act III invites the audience to once again view a performance of the play-within-the-play from the onstage perspective, but twelve weeks into the run when the show is on its final leg (and the actors are barely getting by). Throw in some sardines and you've got Noises Off!

How do you put your own personal stamp on something like Noises Off that relies so much on split-second timing?

I think by not worrying about putting my own personal stamp on it! The production team, actors, and I have worked hard to try a bunch of things and then decide which is funniest. Simple as that! The great thing about live theater is that it's impossible to recreate something that has been done before in its entirety. There are just too many factors! The audience brings their own energy, the actors bring their own interpretation to the characters, the staging has been configured for our unique thrust space, etc. So, we're not really focusing on what has been done before, only how to make this production of Noises Off the funniest and smartest version it can be!

Tell us a little about some of the key cast and crew members.

This entire ensemble is FUN-NY with great energy! It has been such a pleasure to work with all of them. Also, Valerie Saporito is a beast of a stage manager, for which I am eternally grateful! For a show about chaos featuring a train wreck of a cast and production team, precision, discipline, and keeping your wits about you is actually REALLY important. Even when it appears things are careening out of control, everyone knows what's going on and what's coming up next and if something happens that is unexpected, they are going to be able to handle it. That's something that doesn't happen everyday and that's what makes the show even funnier!

What is it about slamming doors in general and this show in particular that makes it so funny - even when you've seen it before?

There is something so satisfying and definitive about slamming doors, especially in quick succession! It all comes down to energy, timing, and of course, the comic rule of threes. The director character in the show, Lloyd, illustrates the door-slamming best: "Bang, bang, bang. Bang you're on. Bang you've said it. Bang you're off...That's farce. That's the theatre. That's life." I think finding the energy, timing, and comedy that is not only true to life, but also the most farcical for the combination of variables unique to our show is the key to making Noises Off funny every time.

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Noises Off runs May 9-25 at Centre Stage in Greenville, SC. For tickets and showtimes call the box office at 864-233-6733 or visit centrestage.org.

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