Noises Off @ Cleveland Play House 10/8 If you need a good laugh, hie thee to the Cleveland Play House, where the current production is what has been called by many knowledgeable folks, the funniest play in the English language. Indeed, Noises Off, by Brit playwright Michael Frayn is back again after too-long an absence. Maybe it could somehow be mandated that this play be produced every ten years, regardless of any other circumstances. The premise is that of a typical "bedroom farce" with doors here, doors there, doors everywhere, with lots of rapid ins and outs and doors that won't close and doors that won't open, and most of the people onstage being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe it's the right place at the wrong time. Whichever, when snappily directed, it's a major laugh-fest.

Director David H. Bell is a veteran of the theater, and he gets it just right. If there were any timing glitches on opening night, they were of the minor variety and for the rest of the run, they should be a thing of the past.

The set by James Leonard Joy is a marvel in itself. One of the conceits of this marvelous play is that the first act consists of the first act of a play Nothing On, as seen by the audience, from the front of the house, the normal place for an audience to be. The second act presents what we’ve just seen from backstage, which means the entire set must be turned around, so that we now see what really goes while all is peace and quiet on the stage. Which of course, we can’t see, now that we’re backstage. The third act has it all facing front again, for the final performance of Nothing On, only by now, after a two-month tour, the precise characterizations of the first and second acts have slipped just a bit.

When this type of production works right, it is nothing short of miraculous that it all goes off as planned and no one gets hurt—or worse—what with all the mishaps occuring onstage. By itself, this would be a handful. When you add in nine tempermental characters, multiplied by two of course, for the actor and the person, it’s mass mayhem.

Lighting by Joseph Appelt and sound by James C. Swonger coordinate beautifully with the action, wherever it happens. The costumes of David Kay Mickelsen were entirely appropriate for the various characters, with special kudos to Summer Naomi Smart as Brooke, who spends nearly the entire evening onstage in a Victoria’s Secret type outfit (read: scanty) and high heels. How she runs up and down those stairs and all without breaking her neck is a continual mystery! And she looks gorgeous throughout!

It’s easy to see why Larry, the director of Nothing On (Timothy Gregory) is mad about her, although his wandering eye has also landed on the stage manager Poppy, as played by Cassandra Bissell, with occasional help from Tim, the somewhat bumbling man-of-all-tasks, capably played by Cleveland native Bob Turton.

Christopher Kelly inhabits the role of the real estate salesman, trying to set up an intrigue with Brooke in the supposedly empty house belonging to Frederick Fellowes (Donald Carrier) and his wife Flavia (Isabel Liss). They’re supposed to be in Spain (something about the Internal Revenue folks) but they’ve quietly hopped back home for a short break, which no one is to know about. Their appropriately-named maid Dotty, is wonderfully acted by Linda Kimbrough. The old actor in this play is the slightly-inebriated Selsdon Mowbray, in the very capable hands of Frank Kopyc.

The real stage manager Shannon Habenicht somehow keeps things on the right track and at the right speed.

It’s been said for years (or maybe centuries) that when times are hard, we need to laugh. In that case, Noises Off should be just what the pundits ordered. Go, see for yourself! It’s an incredible ensemble performance.

Noises Off runs through October 26 in the Bolton Theatre of the Cleveland Playhouse. For tickets call 795-7000 or visit http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
(:divend:)