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It takes a lot of skill to stage a play that’s spectacularly “bad,” and so it’s fair to say that with “Noises Off,” Palo Alto Players are presenting a near perfectly executed disaster this winter. Just about everything happening onstage is meant to go poorly in Michael Frayn’s 1982 play-within-a-play about a theater troupe’s bungled production of a risqué comedy. The Palo Alto Players meet the challenge with sharp comic timing, acrobatic physical comedy and joyous energy. The show runs through Feb. 2.
On the heels of holiday merriment, winter has become the time for dark, introspective programming on local stages. But the Palo Alto Players have bucked that trend in recent years, particularly with a January 2023 staging of “The Play That Goes Wrong,” a spiritual successor to “Noises Off,” and now the company is launching into the new year with Frayn’s classic farce itself. Both shows portray theater companies trying and failing to stage a good production, and draw laughs by reveling in the mistakes audiences aren’t supposed to see.
With “Noises Off,” we get a look at these mistakes from three different perspectives, which center on a theater troupe’s performance of the fictional romp “Nothing On.” The first act of “Noises Off” shows us the company’s final rehearsal before opening night; the second act takes place backstage after the show has opened; and in the third act, we see “Nothing On” being performed on stage near the end of its run.
“Noises Off” is set in 1980s England and embraces that decade’s famous excess with three acts that are increasingly over the top.
Director Linda Piccone’s experience as both an actor and director — particularly one who’s at home with comedy — shows in this tightly paced production. In a show where timing is everything, this strong ensemble cast pulls it off in a big way.
From the top of the show, Kimberly Mohne Hill sets the tone, bringing believable befuddlement to Dotty Otley, a former television star who’s playing the loopy housekeeper in “Nothing On.” At rehearsal, she flubs lines and dithers over which props she’s supposed to carry, chief among them a plate of sardines that will haunt the whole production with its oily presence. By the third act, Dotty, like many of her castmates, is clearly over it all, bringing an almost intentional carelessness to her gaffes.
Exasperated director Lloyd Dallas (Kyle Dayrit) can just find the patience to talk Dotty through rehearsal, as she’s one of the play’s principal investors, but we can sense his fraying temper. His eventual resignation at being unable to stay out of the backstage drama, which he helped create with his philandering ways, is fun to watch. (Dayrit also played Dallas in The Pear Theatre’s production of “Noises Off” last season and performed in the Players’ production of “The Play That Goes Wrong.”)
The rehearsal only spirals downward with the arrival of other characters, but we learn of some romantic entanglements and other character foibles that will continue to plague this production.
William Rhea has a likable vulnerability as excitable actor Frederick Fellowes, whose aversion to violence, and blood itself unfortunately, gives him nosebleeds. Adriana Hokk plays ingenue Brooke Ashton with a bored, fidgety teen energy behind the scenes, at the same time becoming overly animated whenever she’s performing and knows the attention is on her. And there’s a surprisingly appealing haplessness to David Boyll’s portrayal of Selsdon Mowbray, a longtime actor whose fondness for alcohol keeps cast and crew on high alert.
Although first act offers some laughs with witty one-liners and clever dialogue, it’s also the slowest act, as it must serve as exposition, putting into place what the audience needs to know to appreciate the mess that follows.
The second and third acts are where the show blossoms from an amusingly cursed rehearsal to a hilariously irredeemable disaster unfolding both offstage and on.
As leading man Garry Lejeune — also a paramour of Dotty — Brandon Silberstein is a natural in one of the most physical roles, which is saying something in this show. He pulls off some fun acrobatics in Act II, jumping around the set due to a costume “mishap” that I won’t spoil, and diving head-first into some of the show’s biggest pratfalls.
Michelle Skinner, as kindly but gossipy actor Belinda Blair, who tries to help everyone keep it all together, brings a reassuring quality to the proceedings, which makes it all the funnier when she finally begins to unravel, too.
Struggling to keep “Nothing On” running smoothly is put-upon backstage crew Tim and Poppy, played by Braden Taylor and Sierra Bolar, respectively. Taylor’s Tim is frazzled but always shows up for his many duties, including understudying and running errands for Lloyd. Bolar’s Poppy gamely tries to steady herself and the show while grappling with some big personal news.
Together, their total earnestness makes the show’s humor that much more effective, such as in a simple but long-running gag at the start of Act II.
The whole cast really comes into their own in the largely silent second act, which relies the most heavily on physical comedy of “Noises Off’s” three acts. In it, a cascade of arguments over workplace romances and other bad feelings boils over, unleashing chaos backstage just as a performance of “Nothing On” gets underway. Actors can only mime or whisper, lest the audience overhear.
Piccone has beautifully choreographed this like a ballet of chaos, in which actors run, leap and fall all over the two-story set, while passing back and forth a variety of props, costumes and various dangerous objects, including an axe and a whiskey bottle.
A slight drawback to this messiness is that everything is happening at once, which feels realistic, if you can say that about a farce, but that also makes it easy to miss some of the antics.
Camryn Lang’s set is kind of a character unto itself. It’s a double-sided, two-story structure filled with staircases and doors that must also stand up to a lot of clambering, jumping and door-slamming. Lang has given some subtle ’80s flair to it, complete with plush beige carpet.
The Players’ production clearly has fun with the era, from Katie Strawn’s bright jewel-toned costumes to the bubbly synth-pop playing in the theater during intermissions and before the show.
Though “Noises Off” is now something of a period piece, it also goes to show that genuine silliness, and laughter for its own sake, can be timeless.
Through Feb. 2 at Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto; $35-$60; paplayers.org/event/noises-off.
