Diversions

“Noises Off” turns comedy switch on

Emily Hoferer
Diversions Editor

Newswire Official Rating:

Sometimes, the best plays are created when everything goes wrong. Well, at least that’s the case for the cast of “Noises Off,” the first main stage production of the Xavier Players 2006-07 season. It was held in the Gallagher Student Center Theater over Family Weekend.

Jim Springfield

Just one of the many scenes of chaos in “Noises Off.”

“Noises Off” centers around a traveling acting troupe performing a British play, in which everything seems to go horribly wrong. The three act play went over the same scene from their British play, but each time was more intense.

The first act showed what the play was supposed to be like, for the most part. There were a few glitches that got the director, Lloyd Fellows, really ticked off. One of those is that the actress playing the housekeeper, Dotty, kept forgetting the sardines.

Also, the stage has about seven doors and a window, which makes for some confusing traffic. The actors also forget their luggage, and Selsdon even forgets his lines. But mechanical and technical problems fade away as the small cast begins to intertwine themselves in love triangles, squares and hexagons.

Lloyd is the mysterious director who captures the attention of the attractive Brooke.But he’s also fooling around with the stage manager Poppy. Pat, the go-to person on the set, is not only suffering from exhaustion but also desperately trying to keep everything under control.

As if this wasn’t enough, the cast messes with each other as well. Dotty is dating Roger, but she feels a strange connection to Frederick. And when Dotty catches Belinda, who has good intentions for the cast and the play, in a compromising position with Roger, a classic womanly catfight erupts between them. Add all of this to the fact that the cast is trying to keep Selsdon away from his beloved alcohol.

The chaos that erupted backstage during the second act looked like a special choreographed dance from the Lucille Ball School of Physical Comedy. It was very classic and very funny.

The third act lets us see what the audience sees after everything has fallen apart. The most impressive thing, other than the cast, was the set. It was very detailed, as it was positioned on a turnstile. With some clever architecture, the audience could see through the windows to see what was going on in the background, which only added more humor.

While it was very funny and the cast was very sharp, the ending seemed to be very sudden, and the plot had a few tiny holes in it. But overall, I was very satisfied with the production.

“Noises Off” is a perfect example that in the theater, there are always two stories going on: one on the main stage and one backstage.

TOP OF PAGE

Life at the Newswire

Emily Hoferer
Diversions Editor

What is life like at the Newswire? Have you ever asked yourself that question? I mean, we’re a student club just like any other, but special nonetheless.

Tuesday, 4 p.m.–The overachievers show up! I’m kidding, sometimes it’s nice to get a head start. We usually spend the early hours checking our email, proofreading what our contributing writers send us and brainstorming about what our layouts will look like.

Ah, home sweet home.

Brian also crushes a few dreams by handing out ads that help give us the dinero that we work so hard for here at the Publications House.

By the way, do any of you know where the Publications House is? Well, I’m going to tell you and erase all doubt.

We’re the red house between Res Life and the Williams College of Business building on Ledgewood Ave. There’s a sign in front that reads “Publications House.” If you drive by on Tuesdays, the lights are usually on and we are hard at work.

I also check my mail around this time; I get lots of free stuff. Be jealous.

6 p.m.–More people start to trickle in as we realize we are in for a long night. The person who makes the noisiest entrance is Matt Finger (surprise!). He usually gives everyone an update about what’s going on in the world and what he will write his quickie about.

The copy editors also start to show up. These are the amazing people who read our pages many times and check for errors. Page editors stare at the computer for hours but sometimes miss things that the copy editors catch. Without them, we would be sorely embarrassed to say the least.

Lately, we’ve been having computer problems, and it sometimes puts things really behind schedule, but I’m not complaining.

7 p.m.–My assistant Brandy usually shows up at this time, but the other assistants come in whenever they want. Our assistants do the jobs that we don’t have time to do, as well as write columns and throw around ideas. By this time our pages start to come together.

9:30 p.m.– Many more drafts of pages circulate from downstairs to upstairs. The layout of the Pub House has the editors upstairs and the copy editors downstairs. So yes, we get lots of exercise. I’m in the biggest room along with the Op-Ed section and the Sports section. So when Brandy is not here, I am the only girl. I feel sorry for me, too.

In the room next to us is Kelly Shaw, Campus News Editor. In the other room is where Brian sits and rules over his kingdom. Other people are in and out of that room as well.

11 p.m.– People start to get antsy throughout the night. To pass the time as we await our corrected drafts, we do a variety of things; watch videos on YouTube, listen to music, read news headlines, or do homework. If you’re like me, this is when I catch up on all the TV I miss during the week by watching episodes online.

12:30 a.m.–If we are not done by now, we all start to get cranky. We throw a few things, say a few foul words and then move on with our lives. Sleep is our only goal, and we will do whatever we have to do in order to achieve that goal.
So, what’s the reward for doing all this? The sheer glory of seeing our name in print, that’s the reward.

TOP OF PAGE

UNRATED! with Jeff McMurray

Jeff McMurray
Contributing writer

Good news, everyone! After a three week hiatus, I am back and full of the news you need. Even better news: Jay-Z is the new co-brand director of Budweiser. I am not exactly sure what that means in terms of the beer that Anheuser-Busch makes but since I am a consumer whore, I’ll take their word on it.

According to sources from Anheuser, they hope that they will reach new customers in ground-breaking ways with Jay-Z as their new spokesman. I guess whoring yourself out to a multimillion dollar rap mogul is the new thing in the business world to get new customers.

If this as well as his clothing line and brand of vodka are still not enough Jay-Z for you, then you will be pleased to know that he is coming out of retirement on November 21 with his new album Kingdom Come.

Rumors continue to swirl that Jay-Z will wear the number 45 for the first part of his upcoming tour to support the album. It is not yet known if he will wear it throughout his tour or switch back to his original 23.

The most anticipated movie coming out this fall is “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” I truly cannot wait to see this and learn how to be a real journalist.

Borat Sagdiyev is one of the greatest investigative journalists of our time and puts Katie Couric to shame with the work he does. He really gets to the heart of his stories and tells the truth, which is something that Matt Lauer never does*. I hope everyone sees this movie and takes something from it.

Good news for all you Parrotheads out there, Jimmy Buffett came out with his new album entitled Take the Weather with You last week.

This is a great album that deals with being an aging rock star and the rebuilding of New Orleans. But if Jimmy is not your style, it might please you to know that the Smashing Pumpkins are reuniting and releasing a new album called Cosmic Journey. It is currently being recorded, and things are looking up for the musical icon of the 90s.

Well, I am off to find a woman with plow experience, chenquieh.

*See interview with Tom Cruise.

Published since 1915 by the students of Xavier University

“Noises Off” turns comedy switch on

Life at the Newswire

UNRATED! with Jeff McMurray

Delta Sigma Theta