Lyric’s ‘Noises Off’ leaves no sardine unturned

By Rich Fahey

BOSTON – The answer is, of course, sardines. Now what was the question again?

You’ll never look at sardines the same again after platefuls of them are scattered about the Clarendon Street stage in the Lyric Stage Company of Boston’s “Noises Off,” a glorious farce expertly performed and directed.

The crackerjack ensemble cast is to die for, and all in on Director Ilyse Robbins’ vision, and thank goodness for that because any weak spot in the chain would be instantly apparent.

Englishman Michael Frayn’s backstage show-within-a-show is a look at a stage production with a cast of frenetic and unstable actors, a volatile director, and an overworked,  emotional stage crew. What can go wrong? The troupe is performing a tacky sex comedy called “Nothing On,” and it features, well, a lot of … sardines.

There are slamming doors – many, many slamming doors – as things over three acts go from bad to worse to unthinkably bad to absolute chaos.

Along the way Frayn has fun with many theatrical tropes, including “The show must go on,” and the stiff-upper-lip Brit, soldiering on as disaster reigns all around him.

Director Robbins, with the help of cast and crew, masterfully accomplishes the herculean task of making literally hundreds of doors open and close – or not open and close — at the exact right moments, making sure that cast members don’t actually kill each other, and that a myriad of technical details are in good hands.  

In program notes, she heaped praise on stage manager Shauwna Dias Grillo and her crew, who also completely turn over Erik D. Diaz’s superb set twice, between Acts I and II and between Acts II and III. They are well worth watching in action.

Act I opens for a technical rehearsal for “Nothing On” at the Grand Theatre in Weston-super-Mare, Great Britain. The show is only hours from its big premiere, but the cast is far from ready.

The characters are, well, real characters. There is Dotty Otley (Amy Barker), a TV star with top billing and a financial interest in the show who has problems with props, including – you guessed it – platefuls of sardines.

Leading man Garry Lejeune (Joseph Marrella) challenges the stage directions to the angst of director Lloyd Dallas (Lewis D. Wheeler), who notes that opening night is mere hours away.  Garry is also dating Dotty.

Dallas is having an affair with young actress Brooke Ashton (Grace Experience), who isn’t exactly bright or talented and is constantly losing her contact lenses, making her virtually blind.

State manager Poppy Norton-Taylor (Eliza Fichter) is nervous and skittish at the best of times, and is also connected to director Dallas in a very special way that becomes apparent at the end of Act II.

Michael Jennings Mahoney is Frederick Fellows, a squeamish sort who spends much of the play with his trousers below his knees.

Samantha Richert is actress Belinda Blair, an island of calm in the sea of chaos.

Chip Phillips is a hoot as veteran actor Selsdon Mowbray, who has a bottle stashed seemingly everywhere, always appears lost and frequently disappears.

Dan Garcia portrays Tim Allgood, an overworked, underappreciated stage manager who also finds himself a reluctant understudy.

Suffice it to say that Act I is a chaotic cacophony of jealousies, egos, and seething rage spilling out onto the stage, resulting in a dizzying circus of missed entrances and exits, mixed-up lines, slamming doors, and falling trousers.

Incredibly, in Act II the situation gets even more dire, chronicling a weekday matinee performance of “Nothing On” one month after the events of Act I. This time the set is turned around so the viewing audience of the actual play can see what’s happening behind the scenes. The cast proceeds to crash head-on into the icebergs that were looming at the end of Act I. Jealousy rears its ugly head on several occasions, and only an act of God prevents a backstage ax murder.

The set is reversed again for Act III and – believe it or not – it gets even worse, this time onstage in full view of the audience. Dotty has a meltdown, Garry finds it impossible to ad lib and the efforts to find the ever- missing Seldson result in three actors playing the same part, as the company staggers to the hilarious finish.

Lyric’s “Noises Off” is a remarkable all-hands-on-deck collaboration, with all the  moving parts of the production equally invested and  vital to the show’s success.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston production of “Noises Off.” Written by Michael Frayn. Directed by Ilyse Robbins. Presented through Dec. 22. Lyricstage.com