Noises Off Play

This past week, I had the chance to see the UMW production of Noises Off, a three-act play by Michael Frayn that approaches theater from a new perspective, from behind. The play is primarily seen from backstage where the viewers get to see the mayhem that ensues while the actors are waiting for their cues off stage. The whole production was very well thought out and funny, but what truly made the production, were the actors. Through the actors’ use of different vocal and body NRGs along with other techniques, the production was spot on with its delivery. Vocal NRGs can truly make or break the convincingness of an actor’s character onstage just as much as them remembering their lines. For this production, Vocal NRGs proved to be essential in the plays delivery. Although I

Not at one point did I feel as though I had to strain to hear what they were saying. For certain characters, such as the character Lloyd Dallas who plays the director of the play-within-the-play, he definitely played his consonants much more than all the other characters, perhaps to further add to his posh stature and aura that he gave off so profusely. On the other hand, characters like Dotty Otley who plays the housekeeper for the play rarely played her consonants and almost seemed to slur her speech at times. Forward facial posture was also noticeable throughout the play with the male characters such as Freddy Fellowes who is the character with the wife in the play. The voices of all the characters were definitely mixed in the way they were heard. Some voices were very rich and full such as Selsdon Mowbray who plays the burglar in the play, while others like Belinda Blair who plays Freddy Fellowes’ wife, were thin and high, even at times I noticed the actor was using a flat facial posture. The vocal qualities of the performers employing these vocal NRGs truly did effect my enjoyment of the play; it gave the characters even more depth than they already