PlayMakers Repertory Company, the professional theater in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will conclude its 2011-2012 main-stage season with the uproarious British comedy “Noises Off” April 4-22.
In this frenetic farce, a fifth rate theater troupe on a bottom tier provincial tour shows the audience both sides of comedic calamity in this play-within-a-play. A hilarious fiasco of flubbed lines and missed cues ensues, with the onstage antics compounded by offstage romantic turmoil. By the time the curtain rings down, both the set and the ingénue will be stripped to their knickers and the audience is left helpless with laughter.
Time Magazine said “Noises Off” is “a triumph of slapstick choreography … doors slam and trousers drop with dizzying abandon.” “Foot-stompingly, seal-honkingly hysterical” raved The Times of London. The Daily Telegraph called it “an infallible escape into happiness.”
Michael Michetti, co-artistic director of The Theatre @ Boston Court in Pasadena, Calif., will direct the PlayMakers production. He helmed “A Life in the Theatre” starring Hal Holbrook at The Pasadena Playhouse. Michetti is the recipient of two LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards and five Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, among other honors.
All performances of “Noises Off” will be in the Paul Green Theatre at the Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road.
Shows will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, and 2 p.m. Sundays. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (919) 962-PLAY (7529) or visit www.playmakersrep.org. Tickets are $10 to $45.
In conjunction with “Noises Off,” PlayMakers will host “The Vision Series-Directors in Conversation,” a preview with director Michetti and designers at 6:30 p.m. March 28. Theater-goers and others interested in the creative process are invited to the Paul Green Theatre to share refreshments, learn about the production and get a behind-the-scenes look at the design and vision for the show. “The Vision Series” is free and open to the public. Reservations are encouraged. Call PlayMakers’ box office at (919) 962-7529 to RSVP.
Other special events during “Noises Off” will include:
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PlayMakers cast members (left to right): Susan Cella as Dotty Otley, Matthew Schneck as Garry Lejeune, Katie Paxton as Brooke Ashton and Kelsey Didion as Poppy Norton-Taylor. March 19, 6 p.m.: a free program with the director and company members at McIntyre’s Books in Fearrington Village, Pittsboro;
- March 26, 7 p.m.: an “In the Wings” discussion at the Durham County Library’s South Regional Library, 4505 South Alston Ave;
- April 4-6, 7:30 p.m.: preview performances;
- April 7, 7:30 p.m.: the opening night performance, with a complimentary gala party afterward;
- April 11 and 15: free post-show discussions with the creative team;
- April 14, 2 p.m.: open captioned performance;
- April 17: an all-access performance for attendees with special needs, with sign language interpretation and audio description; and
- April 21 and 22: free post-show “Mindplay” discussions sponsored by the North Carolina Psychoanalytic Society.
Carolina Meadows and NetApp are co-producing sponsors for the production.
After “Noises Off,” the PRC2 second stage season closes with the world premiere of “Penelope,” written and performed by Ellen McLaughlin, with live music composed by Sarah Kirkland Snider (April 25-29).
PlayMakers is based in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences. The Drama League has named PlayMakers one of the “best regional theater companies in America.”
