Nosies Off at A Noise Within

A Noise Within (ANW) reprises its hilarious and critically acclaimed production of the joyfully out-of control British farce NOISES OFF by MICHAEL FRAYN for ten performances from Friday, January 21 to Sunday, January 30, 2011. Company Co-Founders/Co-Artistic Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott co-direct the production, in which Elliott also performs, which was presented last season for the first time in the company's history and garnered rave reviews. According to the Los Angeles Times, "a superb cast hit the banana peel running and never let up," and Backstage said, "Michael Frayn's delightfully complicated British farce could hardly have a better rendition than this." Other critics called it "excruciatingly funny"; "The entire production is a riot, some of the most fun you can expect at a theatrical production"; and "nothing short of brilliant."

In Frayn's farce, chaos reigns both onstage and off. Under-rehearsed and over-worked, with a penchant for drama more personal than professional, a bumbling troupe of veteran thespians ready themselves for the world premiere of a new play with the auspicious title Nothing On. In the process they bring the house down, quite literally.

Says Elliott, "Presenting this show last season was a true highlight. I don't know if I've ever had more fun being in a production and co-directing it." Rodriguez-Elliott adds, "It's fun for the actors and the audience! Everything about this play is simpatico with A Noise Within's focus on ensemble work; people saw it two and three
times."

The cast features Shaun Anthony (Tim Allgood), Apollo Dukakis (Selsdon Mowbray), Geoff Elliott (Lloyd Dallas), Jill Hill (Brenda Blair), Mikael Salazar (Garry Lejeune), Lenne Klingaman (Poppy Norton-Taylor), Abby Craden (Brooke Ashton), Stephen Rockwell (Frederick Fellowes) and Deborah Strang (Dotty Otley).

To enhance the theatre-going experience, A Noise Within offers comprehensive study guides for every production, each with a synopsis, director's notes, general theatre lore, links to other resources and detailed information about the playwright, characters, setting, period, costumes, scenic design, music and more. The Noises Off Study Guide along with those for previous A Noise Within productions are available on-line at http://www.anoisewithin.org/education_studyguides.html