Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Pat Sieler, left, and Cheryl Boudreault rehearse a scene from Noises Off, the West Valley College play opening this weekend.

WVC offers play within a play

By Tim Persyn

Imagine acting in a play that contains a play within a play.

To do this, you must learn two sets of lines, two characters and two different personalities, and then go on stage in two different productions within one overall performance.

This is the task that faces actors preparing for Noises Off, a West Valley College Theater Arts Department presentation opening March 22.

"The play is a very funny farce," says Virginia Drake, a West Valley drama instructor and the play's director. "It's a play about play production."

The plot centers on a company of actors putting on a play called Nothing's On. As the troupe begins to tour, the relationships between members of the company deteriorate until they can't stand each other.

Yet the tour and performance of the play must continue. The audience gets a backstage view of the actors trying to keep their production from sinking even as their play is on stage.

Pat Harrington, who plays the director of the ill-fated Nothing's On, says he admires his character.

"He has the impossible task of saving the play and restoring order amid chaos," Harrington adds.

Drake says she set WVC's production of Noises Off in the 1970s because of the "Benny Hill sex-farce comedy feeling" of the original play. Costumes and props include bell-bottom pants and lava lamps.

Pat Sieler, who plays the real estate agent Roger in Noises Off, says he prepared accordingly for the time period. "I wore lots of polyester and listened to disco to get ready for the play," he says. "I also wore a Century 21 Real Estate jacket."

Written by Michael Frayn, Noises Off was once made into a movie starring Carole Burnett, Christopher Reeve and John Ritter. But Drake says the story works much better in its original medium. "The idea of a play within a play somehow works better on stage," she said. "It comes across a little flat on screen."

"The movie irritated me," Harrington agrees. "You knew they took a lot of takes. On stage, it's more spontaneous. The more we rehearse, the more we improvise."

Noises Off plays March 22-23, 28-30 at 8 p.m., March 24 at 2 and 7 p.m. and March 31 at 2 p.m. in the West Valley College Theater, 14000 Fruitvale Ave., Saratoga. Tickets are $8 general admission and $6 for students with ID and seniors 65 and older. For more information, call 741-2058.