by John Quinn

Posted: March 3, 2015 at 11:10 a.m.

Art imitates life, and if life is full of absurdity, art is filled with farce. How does the playwright distinguish his work in a sea of improbable coincidences? In the immortal words of the experienced ecdysiasts in the musical, “Gypsy,” “You gotta get a gimmick!” In his 1982 comedy, “Noises Off,” British playwright Michael Frayn came up with a wonderful gimmick: his farce deals with a play within a play, and therefore becomes a launching pad for all sorts of in-jokes about theater. It’s a satire that skewers itself and all its kith and kin. The lively rendition at Riverbank Theatre in Marine City demonstrates the theater is not dead as long as it has a funny bone.

A rather hapless theatre troupe, under the direction of Lloyd Dallas (Henry Nelson) is at the dress rehearsal of an awful farce, “Nothing On.” Nothing is going right. Doty Otley (Nancy Penvose) searches for her lines and what seems to be an unlimited supply of sardines. Garry LeJeune (Matt Siadak) searches for character motivation while ingénue Brooke Ashton (Jennifer McNamara) searches for her contact lens. And, while he may be over the hill and overly theatrical, Selsdon Mowbray (Jeffery Pedue) can ferret out a whisky bottle anywhere in the building. The first act of “Noises Off” draws its humor from the on-stage antics of not ready for prime time players.

Frayn plays his ace in Act II. The curtain opens on the same set, only now seen from behind. What looks suitably phony in the front looks very real to anyone familiar with theater’s back of beyond. It’s the domain of long-suffering stage manager Tim Allgood (Garrett Hadwin) and assistant stage manager Poppy Norton-Taylor (Kelly Copley). “Nothing On” is a month into its run and those stiff British upper lips are beginning to sneer at one another. This is where Frayn deals another ace. Real noise off stage is strictly taboo in theater. Act II, scene 1 is a zesty blend of mime and slapstick, grudges and jealousies play out in dark and quiet behind the sophisticated comedy on the other side of the flats.

The scene change between Scene 1 and Scene 2 is performed with the curtain open and the cast restores the set to its original side. This bit of legerdemain is only made possible by Tom Vertin’s masterful set design; and, like at a Penn & Teller show, finding how the trick was done doesn’t spoil the fun. “Nothing On” is near the end of its run and the battle of egos reaches its height at a terrible matinee performance, when even level-headed Belinda Blair (Kristen Nader) is brandishing a crystal vase as a weapon and a lonely sardine leads Casey Hibbert into a perfectly executed slip-and-fall.

As a director, Nancy Arnfield had her work cut out for her. Objectively “Noises Off” runs long for farce, but there is no dead air here. A breezy comic tempo is immediately established and the plot unfolds in a natural manner. It is an intensely physical play and yet the blocking admirably marks the difference between actors on stage and actors on stage portraying actors on stage.

Too convoluted? “Curiouser and curiouser,” said Alice, surveying the topsy-turvy logic of Wonderland. It’s a blessing the child wasn’t introduced to the theater. She’d have ended up mad as a March hare.

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SHOW DETAILS:
“Noises Off”
Riverbank Theatre
160 S. Water Street, Marine City, MI 48039
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Feb. 27, 28, March 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14
3 p.m. Sunday, March 1, 8, 15
2 hours 15 minutes (15 minute intermission)
$26
810-278-1749
www.riverbanktheatre.com

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