by Elly Beauchamp | staff writer
As September comes to a close, the theatre department prepares to release their first production of the year, Noises Off. The show opens on Oct 5 and ends on Oct 8. Tickets are $10; they can be bought at lunches, at the door, or on the theatre website, www.johnsontheatre.com.
“Noises Off is a play within a play where everything is going wrong. The actors in the play are getting everything wrong. It’s layers of chaos, upon chaos, upon chaos,” junior Maya Lundmark said.
Lundmark takes on the role of stage manager Polly Norton-Taylor in the comedy Noises Off.
“When the first act starts we’re actually seeing the final dress and technical rehearsal of the show. The whole play is called Noises Off. The play that they’re putting on is called ‘Nothing On,’ and so we’re watching them go through this process. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, through the course of their rehearsal,” theatre director Jay Asterman said.
Steering away from past traditions, this first play of the year is not a Shakespearean play.
“They’ve been doing a Shakespeare [play] for the past forever. If you want to do a main stage show that isn’t the musical, the only spot for it is in the Shakespeare slot. Noises Off definitely has to be an on stage show, so this is the only place we can put it,” Lundmark said.
Of course, the play doesn’t come without it’s challenges. Having to play characters that constantly mess things up takes it’s own toll on the cast.
“It has to be farcical, so it has to be big and extreme and everything has to be played out so when you do something wrong you have to make sure that it’s not just something wrong it’s something that the audience in the far back can see as well,” Cole Lunsford said.
Lunsford is a junior who will take on the role of Lloyd Dallas in the upcoming performances.
After the casts’ auditions in August, everyone has been preparing for the debut of their show. This includes staying late after school hours and spending time during lunch to make sure everything is perfect for the show.
“We’re here until 7 o’clock every day, pretty much all day Saturday, and then of course hell week, where we practically live at the school,” Lunsford said.
With so many hours spent together, the cast has developed a bond beyond just acting and set building.
“The cast really becomes more of a family than anything else because you’re spending so much time together and so you get really close with everybody in your cast, on stage and off stage,” Lundmark said.
Even though the cast spends hours at the school and have challenges to face, they wouldn’t imagine doing anything else.
“It is hard, but I like it, I wouldn’t rather do anything else. I love every single person I’m ever in a cast with, they’re really great people,” Lunsford said.
The cast hopes students will come and see their show this Thursday at 7 PM. If students miss it, they can also go Friday or Saturday at 7 PM, or on Sunday at 2 PM.
“Come and see the play, this is why we’re doing it. It has so many great layers to it and jokes and everything, every single one of the characters is hilariously flawed and great and everybody will love Noises Off. It’ll blow your mind,” Lundmark said.
