OREM — In an age where CGI and post-production editing make films into high gloss visual masterpieces, I love the chance to see theatre doing what it does best; live, real-time, visceral performance that is, well, theatrical in nature. On Friday September 18, I attended SCERA Center for the Arts’ production of Noises Off by Michael Frayn. The story is a meta-theatrical performance (a play-within-a-play) that descends from the classic British door farces of the 1950’s-70’s. That is to say the play Noises Off is about actors putting on a touring play called Nothing On where events of the rehearsals and backstage areas add comedy and tension by letting the audience in on the joke while the actors are aloof. Each actor thus has two roles.
Noises Off begins with Dixie Mann answering a telephone in a rehearsal for Nothing On as the character Mrs. Clackett and pouring a British dialect on thickly. She makes a mistake in the ‘scene’ and the director, Lloyd, who is stationed in the SCERA balcony tells her she’s doing the physical bits wrong for Mrs. Clackett. Mann finds ways to bring humor and clarity to the scene as she consistently gets bits incorrect, and grows less patient with each ensuing bit.
I assure you that it is significantly less complicated – and much funnier – to take in as an audience member than it is to read about.
Director Rex Kocherhans makes good work of some tough text and is able to tamp down some of the adult content to match SCERA’s family-friendly style. In addition to a play falling apart, the show has many relationship dramas in the backstage sequences. Lovers misunderstand one another, the director may have impregnated both an actress and the stage manager, and the genre of the play, sometimes called a sex comedy because of the tropes of running around in underwear, creating relationship tension, and so forth that was popular of the age are either glossed over or quickly focused on other things to keep the general timbre of the show light and fun.
Noises Off gives both director and cast the unusual challenge of a very long stretch of mostly silent acting in act two. Nothing On is continuing “on stage” in a way that the audience can hear but can’t really see as the set has rotated. The actual conflict of Noises Off is the actors, technicians and director fighting backstage doing everything from giving flowers to the wrong people, to wielding axes and being hit by opening doors. It’s a technically complex, visually delightful and highly comedic section of the play.
The play’s progression seemed to hit each of the actors at relatively the same pace. In act one, there was a general discontent, and the bubblings of some concerns about the play, the relationships and the farcical bits. In the second act, the characters backbite, gossip, and bicker but are trying to hold things together. By the third act, the wheels have come off, actors are unglued, and the whole show devolves into interpersonal drama and choreographed misalignment from the actors. I think my only real note for the direction of the show is that the contrast between these three could have been sharper earlier on to support the full devolution of the story by the end.
SCERA’s production works well because the ensemble is cohesive and clear about their roles.
Kristin Young plays stage manager Poppy Norton-Taylor and brings a nice level of exasperation and steadiness. Kaden Renz is delightful as the stagehand Tim Allgood who is asked to do increasingly odd things to make the interpersonal dynamics of the characters functional enough to keep their play going. Dane Allred as Selsdon is singularly focused on finding his next adult beverage and then finding a quiet place to nap and is believably pursuing that objective. Chloe Barrus brings delightful doe-eyed ditziness to Brooke.
Seven Harrison played Fredrick and stood out for his clear purpose in his role. Harrison leaned into Fredrick’s insecurities, need to be reassured, and kindly aloofness. Carson Davies brought a strong physical presence to some of the staged fights both backstage and during the play within the play as Garry/Roger.
Gregory Rampton’s work as the director Lloyd who is part artsy dreamer and part disorganized philanderer was absurd and fun. Each actor understood well their part and was able to share focus and humor. Mann was especially good in act three as Dotty/Clackett as she went from put together to deranged and dejected.
The unit set design from Ethan Harrison hit all the right notes. A large, two level set with eight entrances and exits allows the inner-play to work as actors run on and off stage engaged in hijinks. During the second act, the set rotates to reveal the backstage area with a stage manager’s god-mic podium, levels to the upper deck. The design is important to get right for the show, and it was clear, clean, and had the lovely feeling of being immersive while still feeling theatrical.
The lighting design worked in that the front of house sequences were warmly lit while the backstage was blues like a backstage area would often be. However there was little else happening from the lighting. I’d have liked to see Elizabeth Griffiths’ design throw some contrast in act 1 from “the play within the play” to the times rehearsal paused and the director or actors were talking as themselves. This would have clarified a few plot moments early on and provided richer humor from the design by having it have glitches as well. It wasn’t a short coming as much as a missed opportunity.
The costuming was beautiful with great work from designer Kelsey Seaver. Brooke was wearing a nighty that told the story of the scandal without being overtly revealing as other productions tend to do with this play. The other characters had costumes that flattered them, showed their on and off-stage personalities, and lent themselves well to some of the challenging technical demands of the show. In one sequence, three actors enter as the same character and there’s a proper costume, and the two subsequent look just a little more thrown together to indicate that the actors were trying to make something work without communicating with one another. Simple but specific successes like this elevated the work.
This was a great start to SCERA’s indoor season. Noises Off is a comedy that has worked for audiences for decades and the careful handling of adult content in this show made it still family friendly. Youth in the audience were engaged and the right notes were hit to still have some high level jokes land. There was so much strong physical acting and humor in the production and the cast was unified in telling a wild story.
MORE INFO: NOISES OFF is currently playing at SCERA Center for the Arts (745 South State Street, Orem, UT 84058) as the opening production of SCERA’s 2026–27 Indoor Season. Performances are held at 7:30 PM on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through October 10, 2026. Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for children ages 3–11 and seniors ages 65+. For the most up-to-date schedule, performance details, and official ticketing, visit the SCERA website: https://scera.org/events/noises-off/
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