Friday, July 20, 2007

NOISES OFF


This evening, I had the great pleasure of attending The Providence Players' production of Noises Off at the Sam and Paula Robinson Performing Arts Theatre in Clarksville. The production was, I am happy to say, thoroughly professional and entertaining. Noises Off is a hilarious 1982 British play by Michael Frayn. The screen version was made famous by the memorable performances of a cast that included Christopher Reeve, Carol Burnett and John Ritter. It is a truly great show. Those of us fortunate enough to be in tonight's audience at Providence howled with delight at the riotous antics of the performance.

This was a great cast, and the performance was first-rate in all respects. The set was elaborate to the point of being almost unbelievable. Many, many hours of rehearsal obviously went into this performance. The fact that my son, Collin, played the role of Selsdon Mowbray truly does not taint my assessment at all. Witness the statement of Father Mike Hildebrand, who upon leaving the theatre this evening was heard to exclaim, "I haven't laughed this hard in years!" His statement expressed the sentiments of many in attendance.

Noises Off will be presented again tomorrow (Saturday) night at 8:00, and again on Sunday at 2:00. Tickets should be readily available. If you are up for a couple of hours of great entertainment, I would heartily recommend it to you.