Randuwa II: Keegan Theatre: Noises Off

And another year of live begins. This will be my eighth in the DMV, not counting the dryness of the Pandemic. (Isn't that something, to think of the Pandemic of 2020-2021 a nuisance only 2 years after it's faded into the background noise of everyday pathogens?) This year, I started at Keegan Theatre in DC with, ironically, the closing performance of "Noises Off". A farce in the grand tradition of "Arsenic and Old Lace," "Harvey," and "You Can't Take It With You," with a twist or two. It's not a play, but a play about a play, and the physical comedy is more suited to the Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges than Broadway.

The first Act, sets the stage, introduces the characters and takes place on the evening of the final dress rehearsal. Act II flips the stage around and shows us the behind the scenes mayhem at some point mid-season. Here's where the physical comedy goes on steroids! The final act returned us to the audience's perspective on the day of their final performance, and have they learned nothing over time? Yup, that would be zip--except how to be funnier with each succeeding Act!

The cast of 8 is a mixed bag of old and new faces. Keegan is a sort of repertory company without the company, meaning you see a lot of the same actors tossed about from one production to the next. One very familiar actor is Susan Marie Rhea. She's a power stage presence and I've only seen her play characters who have trouble suppressing their anger. Not knowing a thing about play, I thought, "ugh, not again"; and she was without a doubt the best surprise of the afternoon. Given a different type of character, she can really nail that, too. Second, kudos goes to Ryan Sellers, an actor I've seen over several years now. He has a tremendous physicality that serves him so well with the demands of slapstick. And he's just such a fun actor to watch a real presence among any ensemble. Swing, Emily Erickson, took on the role of Brooke Ashton, but the theatre never formally acknowledged that which I found disappointing.

The set design was the most ambitious I've seen at Keegan, which fed my set design gremlins very nicely. Credit goes to their resident designer, Matthew J. Keenan.

All in all a fun show!