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Five actors, a director, a stage manager (and understudy), and an assistant stage manager make up the company of Nothing On. The first act of that play involves a country home that is for sale; the owners are out of the country and have left only a housekeeper in charge. But the house soon fills up with: an estate agent and female companion with a tryst in mind; a man interested in renting the house; the two owners, who return secretly as they are in tax trouble; and a burglar with a drinking problem. Doors slam, people lose their clothes, and plates of sardines appear and disappear. We first see that act play out in a dress rehearsal, though not straight through, as the cast is really not ready and the director is not pleased. We begin to get hints of the relationships among the group. We next see that act as it is in performance, but our view is from backstage—there's more going on there than there is on stage. Those relationships are heating up and falling apart, as does the performance. In our third view, Nothing On is a complete disaster, and we see (still from backstage) the cast and crew try their best to complete the performance, while trying to kill each other, among other things. The physical antics build to a frenzy and what becomes a long, involved and fast-paced live action Rube Goldberg machine is a sight to behold. Director Don Stephenson has guided his cast very well; a few times, the effort of the choreography is noticeable, but, overall, it's quite an amazing feat. At the core of this ensemble cast is Helena Ruoti, a treasured local actress whose considerable comedic talents are put to full use. She is surrounded by her comic equals, all of whom convincingly play off- and on-stage versions of each of their characters, until all blurs to chaos. Michael MacCauley is exasperated director and ladies man Lloyd Dallas, who thinks he's far too good for the show. Noah Plomgren is high-strung and jealous Garry Lejeune, with Laura Woyasz his Nothing On co-star Brooke, a sexy blonde actress with of no talent. Preston Dyar is Freddy Fellowes, who has a fear of blood and a lack of self-confidence, and the charming Garrett Long is Belinda, Freddy's biggest supporter. Ralph Redpath is Selsdon Mowbray, with the air of a classical actor and whiskey on his breath. Scott Cote is Tim the stage manager and director's lackey; Karen Baum is the beleaguered assistant stage manager (both are excellent in these smaller roles). Michael Schweikardt's set is near magnificent on the Public's thrust sage—and sturdy, as we witness many times over. Kudos also to dialect coach Don Wadsworth, whose talents are well exhibited by the cast. Noises Off runs through June 29, 2014, at the O'Reilly Theater. For performance and ticket information, visit http://ppt.org/.
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