Franklin Regional Thespian Club gives patrons two plays for the price of one with 'Nooses Off'

After a school year in which the Franklin Regional Thespian Club put on a virtual play in the fall and a spring production with a cast of only seven, director Richard Sunny said he’s nearly forgotten what it was like to rehearse with a sizable group of actors.

So naturally, he chose one of the most challenging plays he and the club have attempted yet, Don Zolidis’s “Nooses Off,” which technically gives the audience two plays for the price of one.

It tells the story of a troupe of actors preparing to stage a play. While the first act depicts one of the final rehearsals, the second act has the “play” happening on one end of the stage as all of the backstage drama is taking place at the same time. And while the play-within-a-play is a ‘whodunit’-style murder mystery, the real mystery is whether the dysfunctional members of the fictional cast can pull it off at all.

It is a family-friendly tribute to Michael Frayn’s bawdy 1982 play “Noises Off,” which he was inspired to write after watching a play from the wings and watching all of the frantic backstage activity that the audience never sees.

“It’s a real challenge keeping the timing of what’s happening onstage with what’s happening ‘onstage,’” said senior Conor Hutchison, 17, who plays Tristan, boyfriend to the director of the play-within-the-play.

In addition, Hutchison’s character in the play-within-the-play sports a Texan accent, requiring him to switch back and forth throughout the production.

“I looked up both a George W. Bush accent and a Bill Clinton accent when I was trying to get it right,” he said.

For senior Riley Schmidt, 17, just knowing her own lines isn’t enough, since her character is constantly saying other characters’ lines or mouthing them while onstage.

“I have to learn almost every line in the whole play,” she said.

Luckily, she said, she doesn’t have to also contend with an accent.

“I got off easy this time,” she said with a laugh.

The 21-member cast is three times larger than the group that staged FR’s spring play last year.

“I have to remember how to work with a big group,” Sunny said. “We were doing little group rehearsals last time, and now I have 21 cast members, with a lot onstage all the time.”

The breakneck pace of the play was a challenge Sunny wanted to give members of the Thespians Club.

“It never lets up,” he said. “But it’s been great fun.”

Schmidt agreed.

“Having whole-cast rehearsals again has been really fun,” she said.

“Nooses Off” will run Nov. 4 and 6 at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee Nov. 7 at the Franklin Regional Senior High School Auditorium, 3200 School Road in Murrysville.

Tickets are $5 at the door. There is no reserved seating.