Seniors Zachary Freier-Harrison, Lise Wedemeyer and Thoas Wade fight for an axe during a rehersal of Noises Off, which opened Thursday, November 11.

– Courtesy of Anne Barry

A hilarious play full of laughs, fumbles and bumbles, “Noises Off” provides great entertainment with comical acting and outstanding technical merit, but lacks the substance found in previous Palo Alto High School theater performances on its opening night, Thursday, Nov. 10. 

The play fit this year’s theater theme of “Come and laugh with us!” right on the spot, as demonstrated by the audience’s shrieking laughter throughout the entire play.

Written by Michael Frayn and directed by Paly theater teacher Kathleen Woods, “Noises Off” follows a cast of the play-inside-a-play attempting and failing to put on a decent showing of “Nothing On.” Ripped apart by relationship problems and misunderstandings, the crew inevitably falls apart in a series of slips, bloody noses and lost sardines. 

Although it was a rather difficult play to pull off, Paly Theater created a technical masterpiece.

The choreography of the axe grabbing and fighting seemed remarkably difficult to remember but the actors didn’t make a single mistake that wasn’t intentional. The stumbling and falling seemed relatively realistic – the only better way to stage it is if they actually wanted to injure themselves. 

If I was particularly impressed by something, it was the acting from the cast. The nine title characters memorized an astonishing number of lines and delivered them very well. The face expressions, tone in their voice and gestures fit their character and gave each of them a distinct personality that all the viewers could detect immediately.

The technical crew had great timing as well with the extra sounds, lights and audio. All the actors could be heard loud and clear. In addition, the set was professional and clean — well-made, interesting, but not distracting from the main action.

The selection, however, was far from perfect with its more inappropriate material. With all the stripping, swearing, heads sticking down skirts and in awkward positions, I found myself questioning if Paly Theater was doing itself a disservice by deterring a younger audience. To my front and back were younger kids, and the material didn’t seem like it would make a great impression.

I also found myself looking for more of a plot line. Although it functioned as a great comedy and displayed the wide range of talent in Paly Theater, “Noises Off” lacked the substance I saw previously in last year’s plays, and the ending left me dissatisfied and wondering if any of the conflicts that emerged in the first half of the play would be resolved. 

Although I criticize the selection of “Noises Off,” I did thoroughly enjoy the interesting set-up of the three parallel-like scenes. I laughed with the rest of the audience when the silly Frederick Fellowes repeatedly wiped away his nose bleeds or when the frustrated Lloyd Dallas went around screaming and got cactus spines stuck in his pants. 

Most people, I believe, will leave “Noises Off” perfectly satisfied with the two-and-a-half hours of entertainment they’ll receive.

If you’re like any other student or adult who needs a break from reality or just a break in general, come see “Noises Off,” and you’ll see there are people, characters and crew, who have it much harder than you do. 

Showings of “Noises Off” will continue on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m.