Throughout the COVID siege, theaters around the country had had choice but to drop their grand curtains. In Boise, entertainment venues dimmed the lights for months on end, postponing or canceling their shows. Even the beloved Morrison Center even opened their velvet seats to Boise State classes. Smaller theaters took every measure to survive, but after what seemed like endless time waiting and hoping, venues were able to throw open their doors again to the community.
Boise Little Theater, one of the Treasure Valleys most historic theater hall and one of the oldest volunteer-organized community theaters in the nation, has seen a lot of turmoil in its time. After the fire that burned down the first venue back in 1956, and now a global pandemic that's affected their performances, there seems to be nothing that can stand in its way of living. Many performances were halted in 2020, including Michael Frayn's Noises Off. But after over a year of patience, the BLT stage was able to premiere this cult classic.
Noises Off has been deemed "the funniest farce ever written!", following a group of actors playing a group of actors within another British play called Nothing's On. The play is split into three acts, each showing a different environment in the theater. We first see a rehearsal fighting against the clock to prepare for opening night, followed by the set spinning 180 degrees for a backstage view of the play during its first show, and finishing with the front of the set again for a finale going horribly wrong. These scene changes are happening while the story is unfolding a fuming relationship with a disastrous misunderstanding, complete with stagehands scrambling to hold the play together and their famous guest star usually MIA.
I took my boyfriend, Nick, to a premiere showing with some of the cast's friends and family for the audience. At the start of the show, we were encouraged to be honest with our reactions, to laugh if we truly found the content and the performances doubling us over in our seats. Throughout the duration, there was hardly ever a moment that wasn't spewing laughter and teary eyes. And what made it all the more better was the support that we felt the audience radiating for the actors.
What was so exciting for Nick and I was our chance to see a take on a theater show from the perspective of our current lives. We work as stagehands at the Morrison Center in Boise, working around the clock to make shows happen every day. This season, we've helped load in and out one night shows like Trey Kennedy and The Price is Right, local arts groups such as Ballet Idaho's The Nutcracker and Opera Idaho's The Merry Widow, and even construct some of Broadway's touring favorites, like Cats and Hamilton. The audience rarely sees what happens backstage, and never gets to experience the magic that so many stagehands create to make a show memorable for its patrons. So, for Nick and I, we couldn't wait to see how Noises Off portrayed the way shows run on the backs of stagehands and, sometimes, helping cast members.
There have been many renditions of plays showing a play rehearsal with a high-strung director on the verge of ripping his hair out. Darin Vickery, who plays the hot-headed director of Nothing's On, sat in the audience with us and allowed the audience to feel like we were a part of the rehearsal process. Most of the time, Nick and I don't see the rehearsal part of a show; we bring in or create the set they have in mind, meet the client's needs for the performance, and then help pack it up at the end. But what I appreciated was the fluidity of the first act as it bounced between the story of the inner play and the pauses in the rehearsal for Vickery's character to critique and manage. There weren't too many times when the inside play was interrupted that we couldn't experience its story, but enough for comedy effect and we got an idea of the actors identities.
For example, Katie Shuter Rompala's character, "Belinda Blair playing Flavia Brent", is a flirtatious beauty onstage, but out-of-character, she keeps Vickery's character from running the cast and crew away, sending him to make amends and use his imagination to help his actors understand their characters. You can always find that one stagehand who acts as peacekeeper for the whole team, keeping the harmony balanced until the show is over. She also acts as a third stagehand backstage, passing off props to actors and creating sound effects for those onstage. With a cast this size, cast members will double their responsibilities to help, would you have ever thought about that?
Shannon Peterson was another prime example, playing "Brooke Ashton playing Vicki", a sexually-driven-pussy-cat-turned-prima-donna once the director calls cut. No play can go without a continuous obstacle, and Peterson's character wastes no time in spending time on her. She's known for always losing her contact lenses, taking time away from Vickery's director to attend her needs. Peterson also channels her inner diva with her character, showcasing the stereotypical, high-maintenance actress who gets her way or no way, and even threatening to walk out in the middle of a performance. I can guarantee we can all name one.
It was Act II that really hooked our attention. The set was flipped around and we got to experience a glimpse of what happens backstage that the audience doesn't see. This was also a spotlight for the two stagehands of the play: Cameron Uli, who played the Company and Stage Manager Tim, and Heather Lyon, who played the Assistant Stage Manager Poppy. In the first act, we were introduced to these characters, but Act II is where we truly see them in action, rushing to find Paul Jefferies character, Selsdon Mowbray, call the audience to their seats, and maintain the fiasco that occurs between the actors. As stagehands, it's our job to manage any obstacles behind the scene in a calm demeanor so the actors can do their job in front of their observers and keep the illusion alive. Nothing sits still backstage, people are always rushing stage left to stage right and back again, calling cues and switching lights and fixing microphones and pinning up dresses and placing props for the actor going onstage. You'd never know.
Something we appreciated were some of the unspoken rules and actions that actors and stagehands have to follow. For example, Rob Love's character, "Garry Lejeune playing Roger Tramplemain", had a falling out with Patti O'Hara's, "Dotty Otley playing Mrs. Clackett" because he suspected her of cheating with Jake Atkinson's, "Frederick Fellowes playing Philip Brent." Every time Love's character came offstage, "Fellowes" and "Dotty" were always caught in compromised positions, which compels him to reach for "Fellowes" throat in revenge. One way "Fellowes" could get away was by entering for his next scene. "Lejuene", as an actor, always stopped short of an open door or glass window. To keep the magic running, you can't pass through an open set piece that the audience can see through, so Love's character had to wait and abide by the rules so his enemy could continue with his part. But when his chance arrived, whether he had an axe or cactus in reach, he struck his blow at his enemy. But despite any injuries he acquired backstage, "Fellowes" had to compose himself to the best of his abilities when he entered onstage.
Another hidden gem that productions always experience is the art of improvisation. In Act III, after the set is flipped around once more to position us as the audience again, the performance slowly and catastrophically falls apart, and everyone is pulling themselves in different directions to keep the play afloat. I won't give away too many spoilers, but it comes to a time where dramatic actions must take place. Thankfully, stagehands are prepared for the worst, and Act III gives the actors a run for their money when it comes to excessive improvisation because both Uli and Lyon's characters have to fill in for other characters. Nick and I couldn't contain our laughter; the performance is the number one priority of a stagehand, and any measure taken is never too much. Luckily, understudying will never happen in Nick and I's positions at our level, but we got a kick out of imagining the potential horror of donning Willy Wonka's purple jacket in front of two thousand people.
Afterwards, it was the level of commitment the actors took to create this farce that stuck with Nick. It reminded him of the environment of a high school play where unexpectedness were almost promised. In Act II, things start turning sideways, but as everyone knows, "the show must go on." And for Nick, seeing some of the actors' reactions to the events was what hit close to home for him. "It was like watching glossy-eyed high schoolers who didn't know how to react on their own. If something didn't go as expected, the 'actor' fell apart. And I loved the way the real actors executed those parts, because it just made the whole chaotic backstage scene so much more funny and reminiscent for me."
This production and its cast did not disappoint. Not only did it create light-hearted atmosphere that the audience could be a part of, but it is an exceptional, educational glimpse into what happens behind closed doors of a show. As stagehands, Nick and I could not recommend a better communtiy piece for a city filled with entertainment. See BLT's remaining performances of Noises Off now until February 5th, and see more upcoming performances at http://boiselittletheater.org/current-season/.