Stephanie Larragoite

As the story opens, fictional director Lloyd Dallas (Stephen Zamora) is finishing up a dress rehearsal of a sexual comedy called Nothing On. It's a world premiere that is destined for a national tour. As the cast rehearses in act one, we learn the idiosyncrasies and romantic tensions of each character.

Act two begins with a backstage view of the production a month later. Romantic tensions, conflicts, and personal problems have increased. The second scene in act two shows the production from the audience perspective a couple months later as the stress on the cast reaches a breaking point and the production falls apart in full audience view.

Albuquerque Little Theatre delivers this farce under the skillful direction of Henry Avery, ALT's executive and artistic director. While there is no choreographer listed in the credits, the performance requires dance-like precision as actors enter and exit with perfect timing. The demands on precision reach hilarious heights as the play-within-a-play goes haywire and a hatchet comes into the action. Avery and crew clearly planned each actor's moves down to the millisecond. The credits suggest Avery received help from a small team that includes Emily Carvey as assistant director and stunt coordinator, as well as Amy Cundall and Sebastian Ward as director's assistants. Terrific job.

The set by Vic Browder as scenic designers and master carpenter is a wonder all its own. Browder has a knack for building big, powerful, detailed sets that are nonetheless nimble when necessary. Since we see this two-story set from the audience view as well as the backstage view, it has to be moveable yet strong enough to support actors running up and down its staircases. It's a beautiful contraption.

This is a very funny play. Many mighty belly laughs again and again. Much of the humor comes from the characters' individual quirks. Brooke (a delightful Paige Underwood) continually loses her contacts, prompting a full-cast search of the floor. She haplessly holds the director's affections as part a love triangle. There are numerous cast infatuations, all of them doomed.

In the middle of it all, Frederick Fellows (Ryan Jason Cook, who does triple duty as sound designer and production manager) is a riot with his multiple neurotic tics that produce recurring nose bleeds. Then there's Dotty Otley (Stephanie Larragoite) and her endless plates of sardines, which start out harmless but become a gooey prop as the show progresses.

Noises Off is essentially an inside joke. The point of the play is that the real entertainment in a theatre production happens during rehearsals and the activity backstage throughout a show's run. What we see here is real life behind the scenes—though slapsticked up a few notches. It is another fine job by Avery and his talented team, both cast and production crew.

Noises Off will run at Albuquerque Little Theatre, 224 San Pasquale SW, through April 26, 2015. The show starts at 7:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2:00 pm on Sundays. On Thursday, April 23, there will be a 7:30 pm performance. Tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors (65 and above), $18 for students (13 to college), and $12 for children (12 and under). You can buy tickets online at albuquerquelittletheatre.org or by phone at 242-4750, ext. 2.

Photo: Randy Talley

--Rob Spiegel