Iconic play within a play, "Noises Off" is ready to make Boston audiences laugh
BOSTON - For more than four decades, "Noises Off" has made audiences all around the world laugh. Now, the play within a play is at The Lyric Stage Company in Boston's Back Bay.
The key is timing, balance and the set
Often called the ultimate farce, it's heightened comedy, something director Ilyse Robbins knows is difficult to pull off well, telling us the set is key.
"Doors, doors, doors, doors, doors. They have to work. They have to slam. They have to slam, and they have to work. And then it has to happen constantly."
For scenic designer Erik D. Diaz and lighting designer Seif Salotto-Cristobal, it's all about balance.
Diaz explains, "With a farce, it's all about near misses. It's all about characters basically dancing around each other. Many times as a set designer, you're left with, okay, we just need to focus on what the audience sees. But this is one of those few fun times where we have to flip the whole thing around and share that with the audience so that they can see what happens backstage during a show."
Salotto-Cristobal tells us, "Sound effect and lighting effect work together to really add and heighten and elevate those comedic moments in a farce and in a comedy where it's really easy to throw an extra lighting effect in that could be humorous, it could take away from all of the action and the performance that's happening on stage. "
The actors understand timing is everything.
"The Slamming Doors is kind of the heartbeat of the show. If you don't get the rhythm, then the timing's off. Every "oh" matters or every "um" matters. So it's been such a wonderful challenge to kind of merge the physical and the very specific text on this show," Grace Experience explains.
Lewis D. Wheeler adds, "It's almost like a carefully designed Swiss watch or something with all of these elements that have to fit together perfectly. If one thing is out of place, then the whole thing falls apart."
And while there is no dance, choreography is crucial.
"It is like surfing a wave or something where you just ride that energy, and the time is going, and it's thrilling. It's really thrilling. You get a great adrenaline rush from it," Wheeler says.
Tickets for "Noises Off"
You can see "Noises Off" at The Lyric Stage Company through December 22nd.
