This past week this gay man ended up at the theater on a few occasions , and it started with one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen in Pittsburgh. My partner-now-husband, Brad had seen Noises Off as a film and he was so excited to get to Pittsburgh Public Theater. He has a bad habit however, of falsely remembering things as funnier then they really are-just ask our friend, Sean, so I wasn’t completely sharing his enthusiasm. Until the show began, and it was non-stop laughs till the end. This is one hilariously insane comedy that ought to have even the grumpiest curmudgeon belly laughing.
Before the show, a friend said, “I’m not sure what you will write about since the show is so wacky,” and that is exactly what I want to write about. Being gay is no small amount of work. Every week brings news of another marriage equality ruling in one state or another, followed by a judicial stay or call for an appeal, and all of it intermixed with outrageous claims by opponents to LGBTQ rights comparing us to nazi’s or some other bizarre attack. Just being gay is a political act in a very real way, and it gets exhausting! I don’t mean to suggest it is all drudgery, however. For example Brad and I were married in March and we’re still running into people we haven’t seen or told yet. They are always excited for us, and this is fun every time it happens, but it is still eats up a bunch of energy! Where’s the down time for just being human beings?
Enter Noises Off, or more accurately, enter Public Theater, for a real respite from all that hard homo work! Plan to laugh, laugh out loud and laugh non-stop. There is nothing gay about this show, in the homosexual sense of the term, but it is so very queer it isn’t funny. In a nutshell, it is a play about a play which opens with the actors finishing the tech rehearsal in the early morning before the show opens, and then in the following acts we see the front and back of it, so to speak. Full of fun dialogue, crazy props, and site gags, the pace of the show is fast enough without wearing you out,and it lingers in all the right places.
Like every show at the Public, the set, lights, costumes and directing were superb. For me the most memorable performances were Helena Ruoti as Dotie Otley, Noah Plomgren as Gary Lejeune, and Laura Woyasz asBrooke Ashton. But the cast is full of looney folks who all carry their weight and act in ensemble. My most favorite moment is perhaps when the shoe laces get tied, or when the sardines end up all over the sofa. On second thought, maybe the show is a bit gay. A few the site gags are quite…scandalous. I know you will know what I mean when you see it. After the show, post a comment with your favorite moment and we can compare notes. I always get something from a show at the Public. Sometimes it is confronted with a new idea, sometimes it is an evocative narrative, and this time it was a retreat from daily life as we know it into a zany escapade. There is so much entertainment out there for which you just don’t get enough, but the Public always delivers.
Noses Off closes the Public’s season in a spirited way. If a regular trip to this theater isn’t a part of your routine, you are missing some fine entertainment. Their next season promises to be another treat so check it out on their web site. Noises Off runs until June 29th.