Theater Blog Post

What surprised you about seeing Noises Off rather than reading it? There were many differences between the reading of Noises Off vs. the seeing it. I got to see the show before I read it, so I definitely wasn’t surprised by the text. In fact, when I listened to other people reading the script I would hear the actor/actress say the line again with their accent. It made for quite an enjoyable experience whilst reading the first act. The comedy was not really a surprise when I read the play, but it definitely came across a lot better when it was acted out on stage. I could tell that the play was funny, however, there were numerous moments that I didn’t find funny while reading but turned out to be hilarious while watching. Even the moments that were entertaining in the reading turned out to be much better when acted on stage. I was also surprised by how well the doors, sardines, and set flowed together. In the script, all of those things seemed to be confusing and nonsensical. Through the directing and intuition of the actors the confusion ceased. The entrances and exits flowed together flawlessly and added hilarity to the show.

Noises Off Blog

What were your impressions of Noises Off? Noises off is a fantastically hilarious show. I had no idea what the show was about until I got to the cue-to-cue a week before the show. As I worked soundboard operator, I got to see the show every night as well as the rehearsal run-throughs that took place the week before. In almost every show I’ve worked, by the end of the run, it has lost some of its quality; however, with Noises Off I has laughing every night. Every time the show started I knew the actors were going to pull something out and added a whole new level to the show. In some cases, the hilarity was caused by a mistake in the show that the actors had to cover for. But generally the actors didn’t need such aids to keep the show fresh. --Although the show was overall hilariously fantastic, there were some moments that I was not so fond of in each run. The first area is most of the first act. It is the longest and by far the slowest. Nothing’s On is definitely not a show I would enjoy more than once, if the first act is anything to go by. I had a total of 4 cues the entire act and so it dragged by each night with only sparse moments of laughable comedy. The other area that I was not as fond of was the last 5 minutes or so. Everything in the third act it fantastic until the Lloyd gets stage fright and starts randomly bringing objects to the front of the stage. It’s not that I didn’t like it, I just found it painfully awkward and it didn’t seem to measure up the hilarity that had already ensued. --Hands down my favorite section of the show is from the beginning of the “show” in act 2 all the way to the point where the Lloyd gets stage fright. The beginning of the third act is particularly funny to me because I have literally had nightmares about a show going that wrong. Nothing is where it is suppose to be and despite their best efforts, the actors cant keep the show going. I feel like the phone ringing 3 times is particularly funny to the stage crew because it is exactly what a befuddled SM and board op would do in such a situation. --Although I was not particularly partial to act one, each act still had lines and moments that were always funny. That moment in the third act is the second time Freddie is on stage (trying to give the “proceedings in court” speech); Garry and Brooke are on the second floor in a different part of the play and Freddie’s only words are “sorry.” This moment always got laughs from both the audience and me alike. Act two’s moment where Brooke comes back on stage from missing her line “why did I lock the door, why did you lock the door?” Watching Nick scramble back along the flat and out of the bedroom door was dependably fantastic. In spite of its overall dryness, act 1 contained my favorite line of the entire show. It is one of the few moments that were always funny in that act and was Lloyd’s line “and God said ‘where the fuck was Tim’ [Tim enters] and there the fuck was Tim.”

theater blog post

Experience in shop This week the class worked in the scene shop in preparation for the performance, Noises Off. Although I did not actually work in the shop with the class, I still have plenty of experience with working on Noises off. I work as a general electrician for the theater as well as the sound board operator for the show. With that experience, I can honestly say that I love working in the theater; all aspects, not just sound and electrics (although those are my preference). My preference toward those to areas are nothing against the other two, I just don’t have the attention for detail required by Props/Costuming, and I take issue with carpentry. My issue with carpentry is quite simple: spinning blades and I don’t get along. It’s not the blade part that gets me, because I’ve trained with sharp blades in my martial arts, it’s the spinning part. Imagine this, if you will: you are cutting some wood, say… a two by four… when suddenly the axle snaps and the blade catches on the table. The saw blade is then propelled out, toward you. Now because you do not possess super powers you are unable to get out of the way of the blade, which is then lodged in your chest. You stagger, two cut pieces of 2-4 in your hands and a saw in your chest cavity. Statistics say there is little chance you can survive this event. the end..... Now I take no issue with screwing, bolting, hammering, or holding. It’s just the spinning blade part that is of distaste. Also, it’s not like a can’t operate these machines --I can-- I just greatly prefer electrics.

Theater Blog Post

Playwriting, what was your experience like this time? Playwriting has always been something that I’ve wanted to be able to do. I like the idea of being able to create one’s own world where I could play out scenarios or make the imaginary come to life. Alas, I have never successfully committed myself to this endeavor. Each time I try I reassess my ideas and find them to be not worth writing, or I simply loose interest. For the assigned scene, I really wanted to write something great and I worked on it for quite some time; however, when I tried to write the scene I couldn’t figure out how to end it other than with the relationship in pieces. Initially I didn’t mind this but once I’d started to write I reached this endgame relatively quickly. I found myself unable to add anything else. I really felt like my scene lacked context and proper character development. Every time I tried to add something akin to context it didn’t seem to fit in the scene and thus I didn’t think the scene I wrote was sufficient. I thought that the experience was actually pretty stressful, because I wanted to turn in well-crafted work but I was inhibited by what felt write in the context of the scene. During the performance of the scene I was actually really happy. I thought I’d turned in a mediocre script and the actors did a good job with it. No one noticed the length difference and I thought it turned out fine. So over all, I really enjoyed the experience but it was fantastically stressful considering it was only a scene.