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“What do you think about the Israeli / AUC controversy?” |
“Noises Off” starts tech rehearsals this week
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| Gehad Elmor /CARAVAN STAF NOISES OFF: An elaborate set that revolves on stage. |
Energy pours off the Falaki main stage theatre at the American
University in Cairo (AUC) as 11 actors and actresses rehearse for the
play Noises Off, which they will perform starting on Thursday.
Rehearsals, which started on Oct. 16, take place every day except Friday
for three hours. The play will run until Dec. 7, said Yasmine Riad, stage
manager.
Noises Off is a play written by Micheal Frayn, an English playwright and
novelist, and directed by Leila Saad, a theater professor at AUC. It is
a comedy that portrays a play within a play. Noises Off was published
in the year 2000.
Noises Off depicts the dress rehearsal and two performances, witnessed
from backstage, of the play Nothing On. Saad said that she has made slight
modifications, such as Americanizing the British play so that it is easily
understood by the audience.
Saad has also tightened the play, with no intermission between acts two
and three; the stage will revolve to have a quick scene change. Saad described
the play, saying that “it’s funny [and] it’s a challenge,”
adding that audiences usually like it..
All 11 actors must be present at all rehearsals because there are no main
characters. Nine of the actors are almost always involved; its “truly
an ensemble play … we all get to work together,” said Kate
Jospon, a study abroad junior, with a minor in theatre in University of
California, Berkeley. “Leila has more style than any other director
I’ve worked with,” said Jaspon, who has acted in 40 different
plays since she was in school.
“[There is] a lot of energy going on. In a lot of ways that reminds
me of Cairo, an exciting city to be in [where you] throw yourself in and
let go,” said Nate Freeman, a student in the Arabic Language Institute
(ALI).
Two characters of the 11 were added by Saad and are understudies of the
characters in the play Nothing On, “because it’s a good experience
for them,” said Saad. One of the understudies, Yuseph Bashat, theatre
freshmen, said, “I’m learning a lot from observing. This play
is very different [in its] speed and body language.”
Saad, who has also directed Guys and Dolls at AUC, said that the weeks
until opening night are going to be “from hell” with things
being added on like costumes and set design, but that it’s a solid
“team effort.”
