By Tim Goodwin - Feb 7, 2017 | 1 comment

The Community Players of Concord will perform the comedic farce, "Noises Off" at the Concord City Auditorium this weekend. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of a theater production? Especially one that’s got a cast engulfed in turmoil.

Well, look no further than the Community Players of Concord’s performance of Noises Off at the Concord City Auditorium this weekend.

Noises Off is a play within a play, and has been referred to as one of the funniest plays ever written. Director Pat Delzell is so confident in what audiences will think of it, she’s got a pretty foolproof offer for you.

“If you don’t laugh at this show, I’ll give you your money back,” Delzell said.

Delzell thinks so highly of it that she came out of a seven-year retirement from directing to lead the Players’s winter production.

“I said the only show that would bring me back was Noises Off,” she said. “In the program, I think I called it the Mount Everest of theater.”

It looks like either someone really wanted her back in the director’s chair, or the decision-makers at the local theater group just thought that highly of the play.

“It’s a lot of energy and a lot of laughs,” Delzell said.

Like we said before, it’s a play within a play. The first act gives the audience an introduction to the troupe of second-rate traveling actors during the final (and only) dress rehearsal for the fake play, Nothing On.

The group is wildly unprepared as it’s mere hours away from opening night.

“Everything is going kind of wrong,” Delzell said.

A month into the show’s run (Act 2), you’ll get a look at how things are going, only this time it’s from behind the stage, as you see personal rifts, salty love triangles and relationships heading for a bitter end get in the way of the performance on stage, which is actually seen in the background for this act.

“Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong,” Delzell said.

And near the end of the 10-week run (Act 3), things just aren’t going well – and we’ll leave it at that.

“Things are going badly,” Delzell said. “They’ve been together too long.”

One of the big challenges for the cast of nine is that they must learn lines for not only the actor that they’re playing, but also the character that actor is portraying.

And since the lines in the “play” are ever-changing due to the roller-coaster ride that is the performances, the words and phrases change from act to act, even though they’re putting on the same performance.

“One of the challenges is that it’s kind of the same play three times, but not really the same play,” Delzell said.

Noises Off is only a three-day run so you better pick a day and get your tickets.

“It’s good for Valentine’s weekend,” Delzell said. “Come and get a lot of laughs.”

Shows are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $16 and $14 for juniors and seniors in advance, and can be purchased at communityplayersofconcord.org or $18 and $16 at the Audi box office. Box office hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 2 p.m.

As you can probably tell, there’s very little chance you’re getting your money back.