directed byMiguel Faustmann
It is only in the second act of Repertory Philippines’ “Noises Off” that the production hits its stride. That’s when you hear the well-earned laughter coming from the audience. It’s like a cork has been lifted, and the wine finally gets poured.
By the end of the play, at the conclusion of the third and final act, the audience is already in stitches.
Prior to those first two acts, though, it’s almost like an uphill climb. Emotional and intellectual investment is required to really get into the first act and have a grip on what’s happening, especially when the humor is not yet forthcoming. That the plot centers on a group of actors rehearsing for a production, which in turn frames Michael Frayn’s play-within-a-play, can make everyone wonder initially what the hell is going on.
Second viewing
But then again, that is also what makes a second viewing required for this “Noises Off,” directed by Rep stalwart Miguel Faustmann. One sitting will not cut it. There are dozens of nuances and layers of subtle digs that you may miss the first time.
It also takes time to connect the dots during the first act— and a full image of where those connections lie is vital to truly appreciate what follows after.
The first act opens with a British theater company in the middle of rehearsals, with many of the performers missing their cues and forgetting their lines, to the understandable irritation of director Lloyd Dallas (Chinggoy Alonso). The storyline of this play-within-a-play centers on a country home run by housekeeper Mrs. Clackett, who is played by actress Dotty (Frances Makil-Ignacio).
Thanks to a botched schedule, two couples arrive in the house, totally unaware of each other’s existence: Roger and his girlfriend Brooke, played by thespians Garry and Brooke (Lorenz Martinez and Carla Guevara-Laforteza); and husband-and-wife Philip and Flavia, played by actors Frederick and Belinda (Gerard Sison and Sheila Valderrama-Martinez). Add to this mix the usually inebriated stage veteran Selsdon, who plays a bungling burglar (played by Paul Holme).
A lot of running around goes on in the first act, with the fictional actors mixing their props, missing their cues and literally bumping into each other. But this is where the foundation is laid, and where the audience has to keep its collective eyes and ears open as they struggle to figure out what’s happening in the fictional rehearsal, and which fictional actors are playing which characters.
Reverse side
The second act shows the reverse side of the fictional play, the literal backstage where the fictional actors wait behind bare stage doors to hand over props and prepare their entrances. By this point, the underlying tensions between the actors are already erupting to the core—and we don’t see them playing their parts, but seeing their characters interact with each other.
Fights break out over infidelity, long-kept secrets are revealed, and it takes every inch of their professional discipline for the fictional actors to keep playing their roles and making the right entrances without killing each other.
Again, this is where all that attention in the laborious first act pays off—and why a second viewing might be required. To fully appreciate what is happening backstage, which is shown to the audience in full view, you’d have to retrace what is happening on the fictional stage that is now blocked from your view, using only your memory of the dialogue and the shenanigans that happened one act previously.
Crescendo
It can take a while, but once you identify which fictional actor messed up which cue, and connect that to the actual fights happening backstage, you finally start digging the mother lode of hilarity that the play promised.
It all rises to a crescendo on the third and final act, where the real audience and the fictional audience merge into one. The stage of Greenbelt 1 becomes the fictional stage where the fictional theater company now perform their play-within-the-play, without any rehearsal breaks or any chance to cover any mistakes.
And, brother, there are a lot of the latter. The fictional actors don’t just miss their lines, they end up rewriting certain scenes, and reenacting certain parts when their colleagues don’t arrive on time. (The chorus of the three burglars is a standout scene that almost brings the house down.)
The beauty of the play is such that, while the real-life audience sees all these, it is also mindful of all the personal and romantic tension blowing backstage that’s responsible for all the chaos onstage.
And the Repertory Philippines troupe of actors rises up to the material. Obviously this is something the actors can well relate to, and they pull it off without a shred of insincerity or pretentiousness. It would have been easy to let this slip into slapstick or exaggeration, but that the actors play it all “naturally” makes it easy viewing for us, despite the difficult introduction at the start of the play.
These real-life actors make you want to get into their world—and for two hours of rib-tickling fun that starts slow but speeds up to a roller-coaster ride, the trip is worth it. In fact, it makes you want to come back for more.
Repertory Philippines’ “Noises Off” runs until April 27 at Onstage, Greenbelt 1. Call 5716926 or 5714941.