A Masterful Display of Brute Farce : Theater review: So much goes on in ‘Noises Off’ at the Gem, you won’t know where to look. Luckily, laughs are everywhere.

If you sit too close to the Gem Theatre’s stage, it’s possible to miss a few of the high points in the second act of Grove Theater Center’s production of Michael Frayn’s double-layered sex farce, “Noises Off.”

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So captivating is each and every individual in director Kevin Cochran’s top-notch cast of comedians that you may get stuck watching one or another of them. You’ll only know you’ve missed something bigger when the laughter explodes around you.

“Noises Off” is a play within a play, or more specifically, a farce within a farce. True to form, its complicated plot revolves around the serendipitously timed comings and goings of various combinations of would-be sex partners through numerous doors (Mark Klopfenstein’s nicely faux-painted set boasts eight entrances,) generously spiced with misunderstanding, jealousy, revenge and pratfalls.

The first act introduces a company of road actors slogging through their final rehearsal before opening. Things are not going well. The hour is late and promises to get much later before the curtain call can be staged. Doors malfunction. One actress cannot remember her stage business. Another loses a contact lens. The leading man is a sensitive type whose nose bleeds at the mere mention of violence. As the run-through breaks down again and again, the gossip and by-play of the actors reveal who is sleeping with whom. And some of the news is a surprise even to the characters on stage.

Act II goes backstage at a matinee. The company has been touring for a month, and the partnering is shifting uncomfortably. When the “performance” begins “out front,” the backstage area erupts into a gladiatorial arena of vengeful pranks, missed cues, flying props and near homicide.

Act III goes out front again for yet another performance of “Nothing On,” the farce within the farce. Five months have passed, and the company is self-destructing. The “noises off” have invaded the stage, and everything, including the prop sardines, is out of control.

Director Cochran has his production mostly under control, thanks to his gifted actors. Act I is a little slow-moving, especially when it is capped with a 20-minute intermission. (The extra time is needed to turn the set--by hand no less because the Gem has no turntable--to reveal the backstage.)

Act II is definitely the apex of the evening, even if it is a sort of three-ring circus in which aerialists and fire-eater are competing with lions and tigers for the audience’s attention. Act III doesn’t top it, which is a letdown,

although there are some very funny moments right up to the end. And, of course, there’s a second 20-minute intermission to turn the set back around. That all adds up to a performance just under three hours.

Breathlessness is difficult to maintain for so extended a time, but the company pulls it off as well as anyone could. The improbable seductress of the group is played with wide-eyed flair by Mink Stole, well-known for her performances in the films of John Waters. As the airheaded ingenue, JJ Snyder is a delight, vacant-eyed but vulnerable, and irresistibly voluptuous.

Dean Howell, a veteran of soap opera, is a perfect fit for the role of matinee idol Frederick Fellowes, the sensitive one with the nosebleeds. His Act III entrance as a backstage casualty, nostrils stuffed with blood-stained tissues, is a hoot.

His rival is played by Matthew Walker, whose pratfalls are not only hilarious, but also impressively acrobatic. And from his first appearance as the sleep-deprived techie, Keith Coogan is full and funny. He can express more with his face than many actors can squeeze from a full-page monologue.

Rounding out the cast are David Allen Jones, Rebecca Clark, JoAnn Nelson and Gene Ross. Watch any of them. You may miss a few things, but you won’t go home without a few good laughs under your belt, no matter what.

* “Noises Off,” Gem Theatre, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 6 p.m. Ends Nov. 18. $14.50-$24.50. (714) 741-9550. 2 hours, 50 minutes.

Dottie Otley: Mink Stole

Lloyd Dallas: David Allen Jones

Gary Lejeune: Matthew Walker

Brooke Ashton: JJ Snyder

Poppy Norton: Taylor-Rebecca Clark

Frederick Fellowes: Dean Howell

Belinda Blair: JoAnn Nelson

Tim Allgood: Keith Coogan

Selsdon Mowbray: Gene Ross

A Grove Theater Center production. Written by Michael Frayn. Directed by Kevin Cochran. Lights: David Darwin. Settings: Mark Klopfenstein. Costumes: Leonard Ogden. Properties: Paula Polmanteer. Stage manager: W. Brian Hugo.