PLAYS: Noises Off

[millert]

I am wondering if any one knows if Noises Off can be performed on one level rather than the two stories. We do dinner theatre in a ballroom so stage height is an issue.


Edited to add topic tag. - Maribeth

[KMC]

I don't see how this could possibly be done.  Noises off is a very physical comedy and relies heavily on the levels of the set.  There is also a lot of action on the stairs specifically. 

[MatthewShiner]

I think it would be impossible to do the show as written - you would need to do so much text changes, it would be big issue.

Also, you would have to reinvent so much stage position.

Try a different farce . . . like Lend Me A Tenor

[millert]

All of the designs I have seen show a two level  stage that rotates and I am not willing to lose the integrity of the play not to mention giving our SM a coronary because the director is dying to do this play in a ballroom. Lend Me a Tenor has been done three times in the last ten years here and we just finished Moon Over Buffalo so I was looking for another idea.

[KMC]

All of the designs I have seen show a two level  stage that rotates...

I've never seen it done another way (and if I did I probably wouldn't buy a ticket...).  Irma Vep?  Another idea...  Tough to pull off well, but a static set that can be done in a small venue. 

Welcome to SMNetwork by the way - and thanks for posting!

[loebtmc]

millert - are you a director? because you mention giving your SM a coronary.....so what are you looking for us to advise you about?

[millert]

I am a producer and and I am concerned that the director will insist on doing Noises Off on two stages or one level without consideration of stage management.  He has left it in the hands of the set builder to solve his problem and I am looking for a reasonable solution to the problem. Either way it appears that he cannot do this show in its present venue unless I can see a set desing that would work.

[KMC]

In my view this isn't really so much a stage management issue as it is a production value issue.  If you do a google image search of the set for Noises Off, you'll notice they all look pretty much the same - there's a reason for this.  This show just requires certain things. 

Giving it to the set designer and saying "fix this" is the equivalent of handing them a grenade with the pin pulled. 

I'm not trying to blow you off and say it's a terrible idea, and I can certainly sympathize in trying to move a seemingly immovable object (or person).  It may be worth having a conversation with the director and asking him how he is going to stage the show with the constraints of your space, and don't let him off the hook with "we'll figure it out" or another non-answer.  At the end of the day he's the one that has to figure out how to stage the thing and make it work.  Passing it off to the set designer or TD is not a responsible answer from the person who has ultimate responsibility for putting the show up. 

[MatthewShiner]

Even if you were to do a modified set, in which the "Second level" was not a full story up - I have done this before in Noel Coward, where we needed a second level . . .

If you were to add just a few steps, the blocking, the blocking that is outlined so well in the published version of the script, would require quite a bit of change . . . so, let's say you were able to pull off the set in space confinement . . . all the business with the second level, falling down stairs, dropping sardines, people be above people and not seeing people on the different level, would all need to be restaged . . . and created. 

[loebtmc]

I am a little confused why you are coming to stage management for input. We will make work whatever the director/designer/producer deems appropriate. But until your director and designer meet and you know what their plans are, and you as producer have the opportunity to weigh in on those, it's just theory.

True, seeing how others have done it and whether it has worked in other orientations (for ex., Matthew's 2nd level without being a 2nd story) has value, but right now it's all conjecture. Perhaps you should come back after you see the designs and talk with your director about his/her concept? It's always easier to create solutions with information rather than with theory

[millert]

Thank you everyone for your input. I have since spoken to the set designer as well as the set builder. With your valuable insights and experience I feel confident that I can persuade the director to look for another play.

Now that I have found this site I will not only recommend it to my theatre family but I will  be a regular. Thank you again...
so much appreciated.