Last night, I was able to catch a dress rehearsal for the second fall play, Noises Off, by Michael Frayn. I was struck by how complex the plot was, and how well done the actors made it. The cast is made up of nine actors and features Emily Adams, Martha Ruby Clark, Nick Birk, Sam Nassar, Brad Borman, Cameron McRae, Ashlyn Sanford, Bradford Smitherman and Isabela Spielman, who all play two characters each. The production is being directed by Nikki Guckian, alongside Aaron Stahlecker as technical director.

The story is described as a play within a play, in other words, it is a play about people running a play, and shows the audience what these characters are like when they are not on stage. It entails quite a lot of drama and hilarity throughout the production. I found the story very convincing and compelling, and the backstage scenes were very well done, considering how complex the storyline is. The story is very fast paced, with many twists and turns along the way. I found myself laughing frequently, and even gasping in surprise a few times. The plot is very interesting, hilarious and exciting, so it’s very unlikely that you’ll get bored while watching it. The characters were really brought to life by the actors, and made you feel close to all of their crazy and ridiculous situations. It certainly held my attention. The point of the play, it seems, is to make people laugh.

The set is as great as the plot. For the first act, the actual stage prop is visible because the actors in the story are rehearsing. For the second act , all you see is the back of the prop stage, because the actors are backstage during this part of the story. It is a very cool way to do props, and it is well executed by both actors and stage crew. There are steps around the back of the stage and the front, so that the actors can run up and down them for the actual play and the play they are performing for in the story. Lighting did not play a huge part in the story, but when it was used to create a dramatic effect, correlating with the story, it was timely and accurately gave the effect it was being used for. The music was only used with the lighting changes, giving meaning to both actions to help with the story. The costumes were very interesting and well done. They were very convincing and made you feel like the students were really actors trying to put on a great play, but failing miserably, as the story line goes.

All of the actors were convincing and made the play believable and enjoyable. I would give all of them four out of five stars, because there was still a little room for improvement before opening night. Some of the actors stood up straighter and held their heads higher to show how confident some of the characters they were playing were, while others slumped over and spoke softer to portray shyer, less confident characters.

Overall, I thought the show was very well done and makes me want to go see it again,the theater department did not disappoint. Noises Off will be on stage in the PAC Nov. 6-8 at 7 p.m. with an additional show at 2 p.m. on Nov. 8. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at http://vhstheatre.us/.