Noises Off: the Ultimate “Show Must Go On”
Micah Bessette
He/Him
Media Editor
10/16/25
Sardines and chaos! Through an unlikely series of events, a dysfunctional theater troop ends up on tour with nothing and everything at stake.
From October 16th through October 18th, the Plymouth State theater department is putting on Noises Off by Michael Frayn in the Hanaway Theatre at the Silver Center for the Arts. This play within a play features three acts of quick banter, several future HR cases, and a set that can spin.
Act one, opening with the under-practiced and sleep-deprived troop in the late hours of their final dress rehearsal for the play Nothing On, presents a cast that is obviously unprepared to put on a show. Taylor Smith’s sassy and frustrated representation of Lloyd Dallas, the play’s director, drives the first act forward and lays the groundwork for the chaos of the rest of the play. I thought the actors’ presence in this act was on point and made it easy to suspend my disbelief. Joie Lynch, as Dotty/Mrs. Clackett, played up her stage “breaks” to establish a sharp contrast between her characters, which made it easy to believe the overall plot. There were several times I found myself actually stressed about how poorly the troop was doing, as I felt immersed in the production by the impressive acting.
The second act shows the backstage happenings of the troop a few months into their tour. With an extensive juggling act happening through the entire act, we see how frantic putting on a production can really be. I was surprised by this act because it didn’t feature much up-front dialogue, but the actors portrayed their frenzy and confusion convincingly. I thought Daniel Sleeper, playing Garry/Roger, had excellent chemistry with the rest of his castmates, which helped develop the show. “Just in the read-through we were already a riot,” Sleeper said about the cast’s chemistry. Watching this act made me realize that you need to watch the show multiple times to understand the intricacies of everything going on. Director Jessie Chapman agreed. “You can see it once and enjoy it and it’s silly. But if you come back, you’ll see new things,” she said.
The third and final act continues the chaos and makes you really wonder how the theater troop made it as far as they did. Set in the troop’s last leg of their tour, the act presents the company as an utter mess. It concludes with a final plot twist and ending, developed by Chapman, that is honestly more grounding than the rest of the show. The whole thing sort of feels like a fever dream. I thought Nicholas Bailey, as Frederick/Philip, used wonderful physical comedy to tie this act together.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with the whole show and found myself laughing the entire time. The actors were convincing, the set design was beautiful, and the tech elements came together to create a hilarious piece. The only thing that bothered me a little was the use of fake accents. Some actors, in order to portray their characters’ poor acting abilities, used accents that sounded off. Chapman said that “not all of the actors are playing good actors,” which while I think applies in some contexts, the bad accents were just distracting.
The show features jokes and bits throughout that catch you off guard in the best way. “My favorite bit is when they’re all searching through my fake boobs to try and find Brooke’s contact lens,” said Lynch.
It’s a messy production that makes it impossible to tell whether the actors are improvising or not, and I loved it. “One of the greatest things about this show is that if we mess up, no one can tell,” said Arabella Apigo, playing Poppy.
I loved Noises Off, and I think the Plymouth theater department picked an excellent cast for it. If you can’t see it three times (you probably should to understand everything going on), you would be missing out to not at least see it once.