The Novato Theater Company closes out their 103^rd season with a production of Michael Frayn’s award-winning farce Noises Off. The three-act comedy runs at the Novato Playhouse through July 14.

Act I introduces us to stressed-out director Lloyd Dallas (Mike Pavone), who has his hands full at the final rehearsal of a touring production of the British sex farce Nothing On. Dotty Otley (Heather Richardson) can’t remember her blocking. Dim bulb ingenue Brooke Ashton (Melody Payne) can’t act. Garry Lejeune (Diego Hardy) can’t keep his jealous feelings in check. Hyper-sensitive Frederick Fellowes (Jeffrey Biddle) is constantly seeking his “motivation”. Belinda Blair (Jane Harrington) does her best to be a steadying influence. When he isn’t searching for a line, aging star Selsdon Mowbray (Wood Lockhart) is looking for a bottle. Overworked theatre techie Tim Allgood (Sky Collins) can’t wait to get on stage, while stage manager Poppy Norton-Taylor (Rachel Ka’iulani-Kennealy) can’t wait to tell Lloyd some big news.

Act II take place a month later as we get a look at the backstage antics during a matinee performance, and Act III takes us to the closing performance where everything than can go wrong does.

It’s a farce, so doors will be slammed, stairs will be tumbled down, sardines will be spilled, and pants will be dropped as bruised egos, costume malfunctions, prop misplacements, missed entrances and various other set mishaps combine to doom the final performance.

Timing is everything in comedy and director Carl Jordan has this excellent ensemble moving at a cracking speed. The NTC Playhouse is a relatively small space, so the action already has a sped-up quality to it as it doesn’t take much to get an actor from place “A” to place “B”.

Set designer Michael Walraven’s multi-level, multi-door, revolving set gets a big assist in making this show work as well as it does. While some of the floor-level, on-stage action is lost to back-row-sitting audience members (one sight gag in particular), there’s enough going on in-view everywhere else to compensate. 

Cast energy is also an important ingredient in a successful farce, and it never flagged over the two and a half hour running time of the show. As long as the show is, it never felt that long.

The ultimate measure of a comedy’s success is the amount of laughter elicited from an audience during a show.

By that simple measure, NTC’s production of Noises Off is a success.

It’s a funny show. 

’Noises Off’ runs through July 14 at the Novato Theater Company, 5420 Nave Drive, Ste. C, Novato. Fri & Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm., Thu July 11, 7:30 pm, $20–$30. 415.883.4498. novatotheatercompany.org.

Photos by Bill Weinberg

This review originally appeared in an edited version in the Marin Pacific Sun.