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by Jim Holmes When Noises Off opens January 31 it will
join an exclusive club!
Although Kanata Theatre has performed more than 150 mainstage plays in its 37
year history it has only repeated three of them. Noises Off becomes the
fourth. The other repeated plays were The Importance of Being Earnest
(1974 and 1996), The Waltz of the Toreadors (1970 and 1997) and You
Can’t Take It With You (1977and 2002). Of these Noises Off is the
soonest to be re-staged after its original production.
To earn a second production a play must have that rare combination of merit and
audience appeal that gives it “legs” and makes it a standard. Noises Off
has these qualities in spades. Kanata Theatre’s first production of Noises
Off, performed on the stage of Earl of March Secondary School in 1988, was
one of the company’s most successful.
The new Noises Off benefits from some interesting connections with that
earlier show. Jenefer Haynes will reprise the role of Dotty Otley, the memory
impaired actress who plays Mrs. Clackett in Nothing On, the play within a
play that supplies the central plot of Noises Off. Haynes has found a new
approach to Dotty. In this show audiences will find her dialect more north
country than the central London of the previous show. Doreen Boss is the only
other actor who has played the same character (Lady Bracknell in The
Importance of Being Earnest) in two Kanata Theatre productions.
A confusing but equally important link is Brooke Keneford who played Lloyd, the
director of Nothing On, “the one with the English degree”, in the 1988
show. This time he is the real director, his earlier role having been usurped by
Rob Johnstone. Keneford comes to his new job with experience acquired the first
time round and with an instinct for comedy honed by appearances in countless
Kanata Theatre farces, including last season’s hit Caught in the Net.
And speaking of Noises Off experience, Chris O’Toole (Selsdon Mowbray)
and Barry Caiger (Freddy) have both appeared in earlier productions of the play
with other groups. This will be O’Toole’s third Noises Off, each time as
a different character. First time Noises Offers Janet Alkan, (Belinda),
Gord Walls (Gary), Mike Hammond (Tim), Carrie Owen (Poppy), and Natasha Bourk-Wilson
(Brooke) round out the cast.
Noises Off is directed by Brooke Keneford. It runs at the Ron Maslin Playhouse, 1 Ron
Maslin Way (at Terry Fox), Tuesday to Saturday from January 31 - February. 4,
then again from February 7 - 11.
The Kanata Theatre box office is now open. Box office hours are
Monday to Friday from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. until noon on Saturdays.
Opening night features a complimentary champagne reception. Curtain is at 8 pm
sharp. The playhouse is fully accessible with plenty of free parking. Tickets
are $15.
Visit the website at kanatatheatre.com for more information. To
reserve your seat call the Kanata Theatre Box Office at 831-4435. |