Noises Off

Noises Off – Steppenwolf – October 16, 2024

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Noises Off is not the kind of show I would expect to see at Steppenwolf, but it’s also the kind of show that I have a hard time resisting, as evidenced by the fact that it’s the third different production of it I’ve seen, in addition to the two productions of the similarly insane, though more physically demanding upon the actors and set, The Play That Goes Wrong that I’ve attended.

I enjoyed this version, but I think I preferred the immersive one I saw at Windy City Playhouse, where we were right on top of the action, and which, speaking of physically demanding, featured a staircase pratfall that outdid even the one performed so well by Andrew Leeds (as Garry) in this production, though not as spectacular as the one in Death Becomes Her. I now am in search of more shows with actors careening down stairs.

For now, I’ll have to be content with checking out the two streaming seasons of The Goes Wrong Show, having already watched part of the play Peter Pan Goes Wrong, which, for my money, went wrong, but not all that amusingly.

Noises Off (Nothing On) – Windy City Playhouse – March 17, 2019

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I think the cast of Noises Off did a really good job (as opposed to the squabbling, irresponsible cast of Nothing On, the play within the play), but how would I know? The breakneck pace of Noises Off, which tells the story of an incompetent acting company, allows for the possibility of the cast doing almost anything they want, going off script and improvising, and having it seem like it’s part of the play.

Once again, as it did with Southern Gothic, the Windy City Playhouse does things a little differently. In traditional productions of Noises Off, the Nothing On stage is turned around in the second act to reveal the backstage deterioration of the show. But Windy City leaves the stage as is and takes the audience around back for the second act, which is still the first act of Nothing On, except on a different night, then returning the audience to their original seats to watch the third act, still the first act of Nothing On, except on yet another night, as that show falls deeper into theatrical hell.

Some of the audience gets to climb a ladder to sit on a second level landing during the second act, with their feet hanging over the backstage. I’m not sure whether this is considered prime seating, but it is voluntary. Maybe next time.

Special mention to Rochelle Therrien, as Brooke Ashton, as Vicki, or really to Vicki, who never drops a line in Nothing On no matter what mayhem is going on around her to cause the line to no longer make any sense whatsoever, which would be confusing to the Nothing On audience, but is priceless to the Noises Off audience.

And to Ryan McBride, as Garry Jejune, as Roger Tramplemain, for the best live pratfall I’ve ever seen at the theater, giving no regard for life or limb as he careened down a staircase. He could make a lot of money doing that as part of an insurance fraud scheme.