Misteps and missed cues were evident during rehearsals of The Westmoreland Players’ upcoming production, but for guest director Jake Beckhard, they were not at all disastrous. They were, in fact, necessary pieces to an intricately plotted farce where nearly everything that could go wrong, does.
“Noises Off,” a 1982 English comedy by Michael Frayne, has been a favorite of community theaters for decades and has been on the TWP’s wish list to perform, but “it’s difficult to stage,” said Dan Beckhard, TWP president. First, there is the precision of timing—in both movement and delivery of lines—to deliver the laughs. Then, there is the behind-the-scenes chaos, literally, of the play-within-a-play. Beckhard had the perfect solution to handle the degrees of difficulty: his son, Jake.
Having grown up in Northern Virginia, Jake Beckhard is now a New York City-based creative director and freelance director. As a director and assistant director, Beckhard has worked with numerous well-known stage actors, among them Matthew Broderick and Wallace Shawn in “Evening at the Talk House” and Ed Harris, Rhea Perlman and David Rabe in “Good for Otto.” He is also the recipient of numerous awards including the Drama League Directing Fellowship and a residency in the Williamstown Directing Corps.
The impressive resume aside, Beckhard also has a personal attachment to the play and not just because he once acted in a production. “It’s a love letter to show business,” Beckhard said. Getting a play up and running is “a labor of love. You have to do so much” physically and mentally. This play exemplifies that physicality with “unmistakable” humor.
While Beckhard started in theater as an actor, his calling lies in the role of director. The acting experience has not gone to waste though as Beckhard believes it helps in his work by “creating an atmosphere for collaborative work where everyone feels clear about where they’re going” and encouraging them to “bring ideas how to get there.”
Collaboration also extended to set design. When Beckhard talked about the need to see backstage on the production of “Nothing On” (the play within “Noises Off”) during the second act, set designer Bill Armstrong came through with an ingenious method of rotating the two-sided set, giving a big production feel by utilizing every inch of the small theater’s stage. Metaphorically, “the weight of the shift in the scenery reflects the weight of putting on a show,” Beckhard said. From a practical standpoint, having the stage already constructed allows the cast to rehearse on set, which “is incredible and so important” to fine-tuning every note of chaos within the story.
Beckhard recalls fondly the childhood family road trips that always included listening to the original Broadway cast recording of Les Misérables and father, Dan, who coincidently plays the director in the production, could not be prouder of the path his son has chosen.
“It’s a great thing for me watching him orchestrate this chaos.”
“Noises Off” continues through March 12 at The Westmoreland Players Theatre, 16217 Richmond Road, Callao, For tickets, call 529-9345, email tickets@westmorelandplayers.org.
