OLT’s Unnecessary Farce: You Don’t Say!!
When an on-line critic mentioned Noises off and Unnecessary Farce in the same sentence I really blew my top !! Especially after seeing this heavy-handed pile of badly acted nonsense at the OLT. that has nothing to do with Michael Frayn’s wonderful British farce that pits two performances on two sides of a set as the actors and characters meet in the most original rush of stage energy one could ever imagine. I’ve seen Noises off several times and one extraordinary performance at the Kanata theatre several years ago almost made me choke with laughter. Unnecessary Farce was a bit of farce, a bit of vaudeville, a bit of physical comedy, something that suggested a silent film gone wrong with a sick Groucho Marx that gave one the impression they were all trying much too hard.
Unnecessary Farce? Well, there are some elements of what you might call British or even French farce there I suppose with closet cupboards and hotel room doors slamming but the whole thing was a burst of over the top stereotypical grimaces, gestures, tripping, saluting, shrieking screaming, panting , that destroyed the rhythm and the characters right from the beginning so the show had no place to go but sideways as soon as the curtain opened and the policemen on a mission entered their adjoining hotel rooms. From the very first moments, they were tripping over phone wires, overly excited, getting worked up so very quickly, that we soon didn’t care and more than that, they just were not funny. They were coarse, over blown, and loud, something of a Groucho Marx show that fell flat on its face. The ‘farce ‘ was far in the background Sadly enough. .
I think that the director might have taken a step back and had a good hard look at what was happening on stage before he allowed his actors out of their cages. They so out-yelled each other at times that we didn’t hear what was happening on the planted video screen that was supposed to be filming the set up by the police in the adjoining hotel room. That was the point. Two ridiculous cops, purposely chosen for their awkwardness, were in the hotel room next door preparing to unveil a small time fraud by Mayor Meekly (actually well done by Mike Kennedy , an actor who had an amazing amount of control).
Act II brought in a couple of new characters who after the secret love trysts, the mystery of the stolen money and the threat of assassination by a criminal Scottish clan boss, the playwright managed to sort it all out and make it rather amusing, by a good gender twist and a final event that silenced the hysterical cop on her first big assignment. Then thankfully it was over, but not soon enough.
I just wanted to leave, plus the air-conditioning in the theatre was too strong. Don’t forget to bring a sweater.
I must say that the audience howled and laughed and giggled and seemed to be enjoying itself which shows how it hungers for comedy, but this was not at all my cup of tea. I love Alan Ayckbourn I love Michael Frayn, I do not love Paul Slade Smith who made his reputation on stage as an actor playing Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory in Australia. Unfortunately, this show, in spite of the beautiful set designed by director Geoff Gruson , is nowhere near the imaginative flights of fancy of those other shows. This farce was totally unnecessary.
Unnecessary Farce plays until July 20 at the OLT see the olt website for tickets.
Written by Paul Slade Smith, directed by Geoff Gruson,
Lighting by John Solman
Sound design Bradford MacKinlay
Costumes by Susan MacKinlay, Jane Loignon
Book Venetia Lawless
Cast:
Eric Kurt Shantz
Billie Carolyn Côté
Karen Jenny Sheffield
Mayor Meekly Mike Kennedy
Agent Frank Andi Coooper
Todd Andrew McCarville
Mary Meekly Andrée Benson