Sometimes what goes on behind the stage is more interesting than what takes place on it, which is what members of No Refund Theatre (NRT) intend to show the audience this weekend in their performance of Noises Off!

The production, written by Michael Frayn, features a play within a play. The show revolves around a group of American stage actors performing a British sex comedy and the backstage goings-on that the actors are involved with.

"Noises off" is a theater term that refers to offstage noise being heard onstage. The play's title is a pun to mean the actors offstage are being "heard" onstage.

Director Jesse Cramer (sophomore-English) said the script focuses on the actors and their interactions instead of the play they are starring in.

"The actors bring their personal lives onto the stage," Cramer said. "There's lots of innuendo and sexual humor ... It's the funniest show I've ever seen in my life."

The three-act play follows the group from dress rehearsal to opening night and eventually to a later performance. Each act shows the troupe performing the same play, but each time from a different perspective, including a backstage view.

Because of the change of audience perspective, each act requires a complete set transformation, as well as an intermission between each act.

Because of the complexity of the set, which features multiple entrances, and the limitations of 111 Forum, Cramer was told the production was "impossible."

"That just made me want to do it more," Cramer said. "It's probably the most involved set in NRT history."

Noises Off! is the first show in the second half of NRT's spring season. Because of this, Cramer said, his cast had less time to rehearse than those performing later in the semester have.

Cast member Katie Bucaro (junior-communication sciences and disorders) said the intricate set required the actors to learn a lot of blocking, or stage directions.

"In a way, this show is bittersweet because it's an amazing show, but it's also a lot of work," she said.

The show will also be performed three times, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, instead of NRT's customary Friday-Saturday showing. Cramer said the complexity of the show and the Easter holiday are responsible for the extra performance.

NRT veteran CT Caster (senior-engineering business and finance) plays a British director overseeing the play within Noises Off! Caster sits in the audience during the show and cuts scenes of the play short to give criticism.

Caster said because he is playing an actual Briton, as opposed to playing an actor pretending to be British like the other cast members' characters, his accent must be flawless. He said during the course of rehearsals, he spoke with the accent constantly to practice for the show.

Because cast members play both Americans and Britons in the show, they frequently alternate the accents they use and the personalities they portray. Bucaro said getting used to breaking character and still being in character was a challenge.

Caster said the show is chaotic, full of physical comedy and extremely engaging.

"I get sucked in," he said. "Sometimes I even forget I'm acting."