Lakeland High School's Wig 'n Whiskers Put on "Noises Off"

Doors slamming, backstage intrigue, and an errant herring all figure in the plot of a hilarious and classically comic play that students will put on today and Saturday. 

The Lakeland High School Drama Club Wig 'n' Whiskers will present Noises Off, a 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn who plays on the concept of a play within a play. In this case, the characters are actors who are rehearsing a flop called Nothing's On. In it, girls run about in their underwear, men drop their trousers, and doors continually open and shut.

"So many shows have some underlying moral value," said Darrin Grimm, the play's director and Lakeland High School choir and music theatre teacher. "This is purely for the sake of entertainment. Mostly I hope the audience is entertained and they get to appreciate the talent of the students."

Grimm, who has been running the drama club for the past three years, has an extensive background in theatre and music. He first saw Noises Off, which he calls the "funniest" play, about 15 years ago and said she had always wanted to do it and direct it. 

Erik Schneider, who plays the character of the director of the play, said the comedy in Noises Off comes from the fact that as the play progresses the characters start to "hate" each other, resulting in some funny situations. 

"There is a lot of physical comedy," he said. 

Act One is set as the dress rehearsal when the the cast members miss cues, get their lines wrong lines, and props don't work. Act Two portrays a matinee performance. The play is seen from backstage, providing the audience with the deteriorating personal relationships among the cast. In Act Three, the performance comes to the end when personal friction has continued to increase.

John Winton, a senior at the high school, said the most rewarding part of the experience is seeing everything come together at the end. This will be his seventh play and he said he likes to perform and become someone else. 

And unlike the characters in the play who grow to really dislike each other, that's not the case among the Wig 'n Whiskers. 

"We are one big gang," he said, adding that this weekend's performances equal to about six hours, but throughout the year when the students spend time together rehearsing because they simply enjoy acting and being together.

"Going on the stage, is this natural high," Erik Schneider said. "There is nothing like it."

Fiona Hanrahan, a senior at the school, said she has been mostly performing in musicals and this play is a bit different from anything else. 

"This is all you and you have to watch out because there's only a handful of people on stage and you have to pay attention not to mess up," she said.

The set, which rotates for Act Two, was built with the help of the students and volunteer Jim Del Vecchio, whose son and daughter were Lakeland High School graduates and part of the drama club. 

Grimm said he considers himself "fortunate" due to the student and parent involvement that helped build the set and raise money so they could afford it. 

"I want my actors to be believable in their story acting," he said. "And take people out of their lives for a few hours."

Performances are on Friday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Seating is reserved, so advanced reservations are highly recommended. All tickets are $8. You can make a reservation by calling (914) 528-0600 ext. 231, or purchase your tickets online at WigNWhiskers.com.