By Jenny Brooks, College of Arts and Sciences
—Elizabeth Helman, Guest Director and Senior Instructor of Theatre Arts at Oregon State University
In a season of productions that each promise to examine what happens when things go wrong, the first production in the 2026-2027 University Theatre season is a classic comedic play where everything goes wrong. “Noises Off” is filled with innuendo, comic misunderstandings, physical humor and characters running around on stage in their underwear. Called “the funniest farce ever written,” the play is simultaneously a sex farce and a satire of sex farces in a postmodern way.
Written by Michael Frayn, it’s meant as a satirical response to the trend of "bedroom farces" or "sex comedies" that were popular mostly in the 1960s and 70s. An example of this is “Pillow Talk” featuring actors Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Those movies relied on tropes such as romantic tension, mistaken identities, bedroom mix-ups and a battle of the sexes during a time of evolving cultural attitudes toward sex. Frayn went meta in his version of a sex farce as a play about a theatre company trying — and failing spectacularly — to produce a cheesy bad sex farce. It is fast paced with witty dialogue, and a lot of physical and cheeky humor.
“I would consider Noises Off to be a ‘bucket list’ play. My undergrad produced it my freshman year; I worked in the scene shop and helped build the amazing set,” said Elizabeth Helman, guest director and senior instructor of theatre arts at Oregon State University. “To this day, it's one of the funniest productions I've ever seen. When I was offered the gig, it was impossible to turn down.”
The play presents a chaotic troupe of actors rehearsing a flop called “Nothing’s On.” Slamming doors, intrigue on and off the stage, missed cues and troublesome props all figure in the plot of this hilarious, high-energy comedy. It’s a mix of mockery and homage.
Helman said that there isn’t much she can change in the script because it requires precise staging of the near-constant visual gags and stage business. But there is one major update she incorporated.
“The time period isn't really specified, so we're setting “Noises Off”in the mid-1990s, but we're setting the play-within-a-play,“Nothing On” as a period piece in the 1970s when the British sex-farce genre was at its peak,” she said.
The play’s cast and crew are all students, a core value of The Department of Theatre Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences. The stage productions provide experiential learning opportunities for those interested in all aspects of theatre.
“I love working with students, it's part of the reason I got into this type of work. The students on the stage management and design team and cast members have been great. They're full of energy and really excited to be collaborating on this show,” said Helman, who is an alum of University of Oregon, having earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in theatre arts in 2002 and 2006 respectively.
Performance details and how to get tickets
The show features a cast of students: Mason Bruederer ’29 as Lloyd Dallas; Elora Leverentz ’29 as Dotty Otley/Mrs. Clackett; Peter Sheppard ’29 as Gary Lejeune/Roger Tramplemain; Ava Coffman-Luckcuck ’27 as Brooke Ashton/Vicki; Anie Heffernan as Belina Blair/Flavia Brent ’27; Teddy Skyler ’27 as Frederick Fellowes; Gavin Blackwell ’27 as Selsdon Mowbray/Burglar; Riley Thames ’29 as Poppy Norton-Taylor; and Aiden Lopez ’29 as Tim Allgood.
Student members of the production team include: Brenna O’Donnell, assistant scenic designer ’27; Maddi Gray, properties designer ’27; Ted Martin, sound designer ’27; Shynell Kellman, stage manager ’26; Annaliese Johnson, assistant stage manager ’27; Abigail Newlander, assistant stage manager ’29; Grace O’Brien ’28 (master’s), costume designer;
Pippa Frey ’28, lighting Designer; Carissa Miller ’30, assistant properties designer; Addie Leonard, assistant technical director; and Shaun Leonard ’28 (master’s), assistant technical.
Faculty members of the production team include Elizabeth Helman, director; Mary Jungels Goodyear, scenic designer and properties design advisor; and Bradley Branam, production manager and technical director; and Jeanette De Jong, costume design advisor.
“Noises Off” runs in Robinson Theatre on Nov. 6, 7, 13, 14, 15*, 20, 21, 22* (evening performances at 7:30 p.m.; *matinees at 2 p.m.). Tickets are available through the University Theatre box office.