After the gut-wrenching melodrama that was “August: Osage County,” with its bravura, back-to-back (or front-to-front) performances by Baby Barredo and Pinky Amador, it’s business as usual for Repertory Philippines. Meaning, up next is a wacky comedy.
“Noises Off,” by the English playwright Michael Frayn, opens March 28 at OnStage, Greenbelt 1, Makati City, and will run during weekends until April 13, and then resume April 25-27. Direction is by Miguel Faustmann.
I remember the movie version many years ago and it was a scream. Carol Burnett had just bade goodbye to her long-running TV series, and it was her first starring role in a movie.
In the film, there was the macho Christopher Reeve (“Superman”) who would faint at the sight of blood.
The title is a stage term indicating sounds coming from offstage, and “Noises Off” is a play-within-a-play. The director is temperamental, and the actors have emotional problems even as they rehearse a sex farce titled “Nothing On.”
The playwright makes wicked but loving fun of all those English bedroom comedies.
The Rep cast is A-listed. Comebacking actor Chinggoy Alonso plays the director, while Frances Makil-Ignacio is the forgetful actress Dotty. Paul Holme is an alcoholic, while Sheila Valderrama, another Rep alumnus, plays a cheerful actress.
Others in the cast are Lorenz Martinez (Valderrama’s husband in real life), Gerard Sison and Carla Guevara-Laforteza, who is cast as a sexpot.
Pure entertainment
“This play is pure entertainment and reveals some of the finest situational backstage folly ever written for the stage,” says Rep manager David Bianco, himself an actor.
He adds, “We want audiences of all ages, regardless of economic background, to come to the theater to enjoy themselves with their friends and family. Sharing Rep’s longstanding tradition for excellence in the theater is part of our mission, and we are working to build that bridge with our community.”
The show, Bianco feels, relies heavily on timing, and with Faustmann in charge, “we have a production that audiences will fall in love with. After all, as the great Charlie Chaplin said, a day without laughter is a day wasted. We can go to the theater for two hours and escape from the rigors of life…
“Audiences can expect to see nine actors pouring their hearts and souls into the roles with gusto and spirit. Precision and pace are key, and you can expect that they will deliver.”
In addition, audiences will be “educated” on the various comic archetypal characters involved in a production, from the director to the stage manager and the actors.
“Laughter is the best medicine for the soul,” chortles the manager.
Repertory Philippines’ “Noises Off” runs March 28-April 27 at OnStage, Greenbelt 1, Makati City. Call 5716926 or 5714941; e-mail shows@repertoryphilip
pines.com; visit www.repertory
philippines.com
