Hats Off to Nooses Off, Mount Whitney’s Rotary Theater Performance

By Caleb Feliz

The performance of the comedy Nooses Off by Mount Whitney on October 4th and 6th at the Rotary Theater was a show that resulted in uproarious laughter among the crowd. A talented cast played a chaotic plot through hectic scenes as every actor and extra performing even ambient and passive positions held valid contributing roles even from the corners of the audiences’ eyes. Each role was indignant with its own performance and had individual importance to the plot of their own rendition.

On top of that, the arguably most significant part of this work was its chaotic nature. The setting of the production begins as a rehearsal for a play rendition of Agatha Christie’s mystery Nine Little Indians. The comedy consists of many different arcs between each relationship of characters with their own conflicts and realities (many parallel yet in polar contraction) all happening at once. Within the first Act of the play, all of these are laid out like cards on a table. But as the play proceeds in Act 2, the plot’s pace shifts.

The play begins with each character detached from each other, excepting the character of the Director. The Director had a brusque and demanding association to everything happening, playing a slowly steaming teakettle of a character that kept a static flat line in her portrayal of common, under-the-boiling-point frustration with every character.

As the production entered Act 2, the stage showed a backstage perspective and the plot depicted a consequent showing of the play for an audience as relationships between the characters began to mingle and become involved in each other’s affairs like a winding trail of falling dominoes. As the plot thickens, the affairs of the comedy are altered exponentially with each characters erratic action. By the climax, the scene is barely recognizable as a result of each sequence of controlled chaos which it followed.

Without proper attention to detail with each point of the plot, the audience would not be able to enjoy the production under the chaotic circumstances. Yet, what sat the eye in this storm was the Director’s character. It was the Director’s common association with each character and consistent reaction to each of their interjections that guided the audience through an increasingly incoherent story. Many important points of comic notability kept the audiences attention on the important points in the play while so many other things were happening. There is beauty amidst its chaos.

(It was the same reason I personally enjoy some of the more erratic music produced by the group Lord Huron, such as the piece Never Ever for example. It was the same feeling I got when I found the beat amidst the storm of all kinds of different instrumental elements vying for dominance when I listened enough and trusted it to guide me in the clarity of its eye. I was able to understand the music that way, and found a personally rewarding peace and enjoyment in the music not all others shared).

Jenna Agredano, Class of ’20, states her opinion of the play to be “really good, I thought it was a lot of smart theatre humour, and being a theater kid I very much appreciated it.” She further states her response for the aspect of the production she reserved most appreciation for. “Mostly how it functioned, like as a show, a whole (…) how the intermission was a scene change, and the way the house lights were set up, and just in general: the acting.” Agredano also stated the actor she took most interest in. “I have a lot of interest in the human who played Stage Manager, I thought he was really funny, really great (…) And also [actor] Eli Addams, he’s pretty funny.”

Cade Gann, Class of ’21, says “I think Mount Whitney’s production of Nooses Off was a very great production. I thought that they had very great character development and great direction by the director.” Gann further states his appreciation. “I thought it was quite funny with lot of theatre humour. Being a theater kid it’s like ‘whoa, this is relatable.'”

The performance of Mount Whitney’s comedy appears to have gotten the attention and the appreciation of its audience and has likely earned itself a title for a notable and worthwhile theater experience.