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A Lot of Noise

When the British playwright Michael Frayn wrote about a touring troupe of actors performing a standard bill of fare in the U.K., known as “British Bedroom Farce,” his intention was to mock the intensity of these endeavors by poking fun of everyone from the director to the backstage crew.

Also known as lowbrow (as opposed to highbrow e.g. Shakespeare, as fulfilled by the other summer touring players) this silly whimsical form of tongue-in-cheek comedy is based on impeccable timing and the cutting humor wrapped around flawlessly delivered double entendres.

Which is just one reason why one must applaud the British for avoiding replicating the American western genre as we in this country might return the compliment by eschewing British farce.

For me, this production missed the mark by a wide margin. The relationships were not established, the entrances and exits loud and other than the outstanding set design (and backstage crew) there is little reason to drive to Coronado until June 1, when the same players debut “Once,” the Irish hit movie turned Tony-Award winning play.

“Noises Off” playing at Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Avenue in Coronado until May 20. Box office (619) 437-6000 or http://www.lambsplayers.org. Rating 6 out of 10.

The writer can be contacted at [email protected]

 

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