A few weeks into June, students will enter summer vacation. Students have been in torment with too many things on their plate. Therefore, they will be pleased to get the chance to think more freely. Students have already experienced hard, difficult, burdened weeks. However, summer vacation can be the new starting line. For what? It is time to enjoy yourself.
Nowadays, there are many performances that allow us to enjoy life. Performances do not only change, but also have the form, which allows the viewer to enjoy themselves freely, actively and positively. In the past, people were passive viewers, who sat in their seats. The stage was of the performers active concern, and the viewer was just a passive audience. These days, there are such things as the standing concert, an exhibition to allows the audience to touch and participate in the performance.
People often have difficulty thinking objectively about their own life. If someone looked into other people’s heads, they would find all kinds of mixed-up things. Then, they will try to solve the problem by doing something. At this time, the performances of ‘Noise Off’, referred to in the last paragraphs of this article can influence them.
The play, ‘Noise Off’, is a positively self-enjoyable performance. It maximizes the pleasure of the audience by including the viewer into the inner side of the play. To be able to enjoy the play to it’s fullest, it is best to join the play’s staff. That is, the ‘Noise off’ performers provide the viewers with a staff ID card. With this, the viewer becomes apart of the play.
‘Noise off’ has the viewer stay with the play, which has quite a complicated, but clear story line. However, before you can enjoy the play, ‘Noise off’, you should acknowledge something beyond feelings with just the senses.
‘Noise off’ has two key points related to this degree of understanding. For example, to watch the play, people should know all about the twists and turns of two stories that are focused on the actors group.
It is like a Movie Theater that shows two or several movies playing simultaneously. Just like this, the play ‘Noise off’ has two or several story lines playing simultaneously. It has a normal plot for a play, but this new form is abnormal. It is full of novelty, fascination, elaborateness, and lots of humor. As a fictional play has a kind of construction method, a frame-form, the other plots are performing within the larger orginal plot. That is, the audience can enjoy two attractions: one as part of the staff of the play and another as only a viewer.
The inner story in ‘Noise off’ is like a hide-and-seek game. To understand this play well, you should keep this inner story in your mind. The scene takes place in a superb English, two floor house. The owner is not home, but a housemaid, Clocket, is in the house watching the television. At the same time, Roser, the real estate agent, and Vicky, his girl friend, come into the house secretly. Roser, who comes across Clocket, lies to her by telling that Vicky is a client coming to see the house. Thus, Mrs. Clocket says to him that he may regard the matter as if she is not here due to her holiday.
By the way, Phillip, the real owner of the house, and Plavia, his wife, return to the house. They come there to be alone and enjoy their love, but they should not be there, because Phillip reported that he would be in Spain to avoid taxes. If the truth gets to the police that he is actually in England, maybe he will have to pay huge taxes. Therefore, many people in the house are busy hiding themselves with each person’s personal cause. They are moving busily around the house to avoid facing someone else.
Accordingly, the stage is filled with complicated people’s actions. Even worse, these actions become much more complicated. The reason why it becomes so is due to another story lines. You see, there is a former story that has emerged into the new story called ‘Noise Off”. The former story has the name, ‘Nothing On’. However, ‘Nothing On’ is played by the actors of ‘Noise off’. Namely, ‘Noise off’ is a story of the actors, who are acting in ‘Nothing On’.
At first sight, this play seems to be complex and difficult to understand. However, this play is so considerate, because the plots are shown three times, people can understand and enjoy the play. Feeling each unique twist of the play in fascination. Furthermore, the viewers have become part of the staff from the moment that they have received their staff ID card.
At first, the housemaid is in the house watching a movie. The actress, Clocket, is acting out the movie she is watching, but before long, the audience hears some voices. The voices are from directors. Now, this is not a real situation, but what you hear is the last rehearsal of a play. It is past midnight and all six actors were rehearsingexercising, having just one day to go, because not all things are prepared. All of them are too stressed and busy to do their scenes correctly. Each actor performs his or her actions in a regular sequence, but the rehearsal does not progress, well. The actor’s motions are flurried and there are no good scenes.
If the viewer is just an audience member, they cannot watch the rehearsal progressing over midnight. However, if the audience is sitting as the staff, the viewer can appreciate all things from the very beginning to the last ending. It is an attractive part of the play.
In the middle of the play, the relationships between the actors are crossed subtly. At this time, the viewer can watch from behind the stage. There are huge plots developing that are related to the actors’ relationships. They have bad feelings between them. Therefore, audience members behind the stage become terribly involved, and the actors begin to appear out of sequence.
This part of the play is thought to be the best time to enjoy all of the play, because the stage was turned inside out, the viewer is able to look into the scenes as an expert. Moreover, the slight misunderstandings between the actors become the problems not to solve, because there are processes that are just too funny. They make fool mistakes repeatedly. Even so, the play had ended barely.
In the third part of the play, no one knows where the play will lead. However, the viewers as the staff can guess? The actors’ activities are impossible to control. There are no script or speeches. Every thing is done by adlib through the actors. So, nothing connects. At last, the actors accept defect in their situations, and all the people appear on the stage, and a foolish situation happens. The director wrongfully marries the actress Vicky, knowing that the assistant director is in love with him????.
This play has three primary points. First, the audience can feel the peculiar things that are happening as part of the staff, as they view the three same stories. Second, the play stands for ‘The reality of back stage not to be cut’. This style of play enables the viewer to think, enjoy and feel the play actively rather than passively. Finally, there is nothing hidden from the audience at all. In its three performances, the play includes the audience as part of the staff. That is to say, the play can accept more movements, and is never the same twice.
While people are watching the play with humor and taking their anxieties of daily life away, people can become relaxed. It is not easy to enjoy something positively and only for oneself. However, once you are ready to forget your anxiety and stresses, you will find that you were already a prepared person.
By Woo, Yeo-rum
Culture Reporter