By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)
Playwright Michael Frayn claims he got the inspiration to write Noises Off in 1970 while watching a comedy he had written unfold backstage. It occurred to him in several ways that much more of the action off stage was the stuff of a better comedy as actors went about their places bringing in and taking off props and making various entrances and exits.

The play is broken down into three segments as we see the same scene play out first in what should be the “tech” for the show, but is in reality the final dress rehearsal for the company. The second act is a month later as the troupe is on the road trying to put on that scene again amid new challenges that are revealed from a backstage perspective. The final repeated scene is about six weeks later as the play’s run is coming to an end and personalities and relationships – some real and some imagined – create havoc on stage.
The nine-member ensemble directed by Harold Heno creates plenty of laughs in this play within a play, but in a number of cases the critical timing in this comedy is slightly off. At times the flow of comedic actions and reactions that should be seamless seemed forced or deliberately slowed down for others to catch up. The nature of a farce as big as Noises Off is that it will get better as the players feel more comfortable playing their roles. This iteration of Noises Off does enjoy many more redeeming features than the few perceived shortcomings.

The beauty of the work is that even when the play goes off the rails, the characters are able to live in the moment and ad lib their way out of a difficult unscripted situation. By the third iteration of this scene played out to the audience, the characters on stage have lost their motivation due to the personal shenanigans of the actors who are playing the roles. The actors must play actors who are playing their roles.
Benjamin Clement plays Lloyd Dallas, the director of the play Nothing Off. We first see and hear him giving notes from the middle of the audience to the players on the stage. It is obvious he is worried about how this production is going to do with an abbreviated rehearsal period cut short by repairs to the theater. All the actors seem to have trouble keeping up with the others or understanding their characters’ motivations. He bravely continues on with a stiff upper lip, not realizing how complicated the personal relationships will make for him and others as the production travels from one venue to the next.

Nancy White plays Dotty Otley, a housekeeper who can’t remember her lines or what items – especially a platter full of sardines – belong on stage or off. Although she is much older, Otley is having an affair with the leading man, Garry Lejeune, played by Jonathan Mares. Lejeune needs a script in order to finish his thoughts and his lines and Mares plays him somewhat brashly.
Leujeune’s love interest on stage is Brooke Ashton played by Elizabeth McCoy. Ashton knows her lines so well that no matter what goes on the stage, she is committed to saying those lines over ad nauseam. McCoy plays the blonde very well.
In the meantime, Gary is jealous of his other fellow actor Frederick, who he mistakenly believes is carrying on with Dotty behind his back. That imagined tryst cause Gary to lash out in expected ways at Frederick, who is played to a tee by veteran actor Leon Contavesprie.
Frederick’s love interest in the play is Belinda Blair, portrayed by Mary Lee Jacobs. It is up to her to serve as the voice of reason while everything about the play is crashing to the ground. Eventually, she loses it, too.

Meanwhile, the nervous assistant stage manager Poppy Norton Taylor – Bailey Gabrish – has had to fill in for stage manager Timothy Allgood, who is assigned the task of building the set and filling in for the alcoholic actor and free radical Selsdon, played by David Jacobs (Mary’s real life husband). Miles Hamauei rounds out the cast, playing the role of the lovable, but dimwitted stage manager quite well.
Eric Porter provided the well-executed scenic designs for the action that takes place in a British country home with several levels and numerous doors. Antoinette De Alteriis makes her debut as a costume designer at JPAS with this production. She is joined by longtime lighting designer Jonathan Michael Gonzales, who last worked with JPAS’ In the Heights two years ago.
Olivia Winter does outstanding work with props, while Kasey Lange Smith steps up as wig and makeup designer to great effect.
Noises Off (2 hours and 25 minutes with a 15-minute intermission and a five minute interval after Act II) finishes its run at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center, 6400 Airline Drive, in Metairie. For tickets, click here or call 504-885-2000.