On October 2, 3, and 5, Klein Drama performed four shows of “Noises Off.” The three-act play included a talented cast of ­­­­­­­­­­nine and a lot of the faces were familiar from past productions.

Seeing how versatile some of the actors were, such as Nicholas Lammey, who went from playing a crooked inn keeper in “Les Miserables” last year,to taking the role of stuttering actor with a lot of jealousy, was especially hilarious. The stage crew consisted of 29 members that put together a rotating stage where the audience could viewed the play from multiple perspectives.

“Noises Off” was about a group of actors performing a play titled “Nothing On.” Each of the three acts took place months from each other and things seemed to just keep getting worse for the cast. It was interesting to see how the set changed between each act to create the feel that the audience was either just an audience or looking backstage.

In the first act, the play was about to go on tour that very night and they were still in their dress rehearsal. The director, who was portrayed by Ian Tonroy, had to continuously come out of the audience and interrupt the play happening on stage to assist the actors with lines and stage directions. The actors themselves provided distractions from rehearsing with their many quirks. The character played by Megan Hess lost her contact and the whole cast had to stop and search for it. Another comedic part in the first act was when the actors all had to search for the old actor who had an addiction to alcohol. It was an entertaining act that had the audience laughing at the clever script, however that was only the beginning.

Act two takes place a month later when tensions are running high with all the actors and the stage screw that scramble to make curtain call to perform their first showing of “Nothing On.” The set was spun around so that the audience got a look at all the chaotic things happening “back stage”. It was exciting to watch the actors all fumble around backstage as they performed a play and bickered with each other. Most of the interesting part of the second act was done with no talking because once behind stage, the actors couldn’t talk and they used over exaggerated hand signals to communicate to each other. Actor Nathanael Duty played a wimpy character who had a phobia of violence and spent most of his time trying to avoid being killed by his fellow actor. The second act was filled with side splitting humor as the characters continued to show their quirks, but it wasn’t all just laughter. The act ended with one of the stage crew members, played by Cassidy D’ Agostino, announced that she was pregnant.

The last act took place two months after the second and things were even worse than before. The play took off at the beginning of the last performance of “Nothing On” and it was more hectic than the dress rehearsal. After witnessing how the play was supposed to be, the audience was amused to watch actors mess up their lines and miss cues. From the beginning of the act, actress Lauren Domino basically gave up any hope and gave a halfhearted performance while the other cast members scrambled to do the impossible and finish their tour off well. That didn’t happen. This act was hands down the best of the whole play and the actors received a standing ovation when curtain was finally called.

Although the fake play, “Nothing On,” was a complete flop, Klein High Drama’s “Noises Off” was wonderfully executed and it was obvious how much work was put into the excellent play. If you missed this production, you can look forward to their next play which will actually be the musical “How to Succeed in Business” Without Really Trying. Those dates are January 22nd- 23rd, 28th- 30th, and February 1st. If Klein’s last musical, “Les Misérables,” and their latest play were any indications, it will be a show you don’t want to miss.