Noises Off is a very funny play by Michael Frayne made into a very funny movie starring Micheal Caine, Denholm Eliot, Carol Burnett, and most improbably, Christopher Reeve, who shows with his performance that his unfortunate accident cut short a budding career as a comedian with great facial gesture and impeccable timing.

It is also the first – and probably last – sex farce ever produced in Malaysia. Two of the expats working here, Erin and Mark, have worked tirelessly for six months to get this show to performance level. It opens this Wednesday, and the run was sold out almost immediately.

I had the fun of making the set for this production, no mean feat when the school has no shop, or even a room that could be used for a shop. We had to work in the parking garage in 85 degree weather with lumber that could only be described as curiously bent. It took a month to build (much longer to plan) but it is finally up, and the cast have had the fun of trying it out for a week, slamming all the doors at a furious pace. So far the construction seems to be holding up.

The fun part has been working with the expat team here on this project. They are really a great group of teachers. Mark and Erin have put in an estimated 300 hours to bring this project to fruition, but others have contributed great chunks of their time as well. I am looking forward to opening night to see it all come together. Then we are all going to have a little party and get back to our marking, which has been piling up at an alarming rate!