“Is there anyone in this play who keeps their clothes on?” FAU student John Stipek shouted from the audience during the second act of the summer comedy Noises Off. Stipek was one of only a handful of FAU students who actually attended the play. Noises Off opened to a full house, except the audience at the FAU Festival Repertory Theatre was filled with anyone and everyone except actual FAU students.

The British comedy, which was based on the concept of a play within a play, was the masterpiece of Michael Frayn, who came up with it when he noticed that the most comedic parts of plays took place from behind the scenes. Michael Frayn was ahead of his time- Noises Off was written decades before anyone had ever heard of reality television.

The play consisted of a mix between graduate students and three professional actors from the Actors’ Equity Association: Kathryn Johnston, Peter Haig and Bruce Linser.

Linser, whose comedic skills defiantly stood out, had the audience erupting with laughter – like when he was caught by his wife with his pants down, literally. When asked how he felt about being half naked in front of the entire audience he responded “I do it for the comedy.”

Of course none of the actors are even close to being naked, Linser explains, “I was wearing extra underwear under my clothes and so was Julie.” Julie Daniels plays the part of Brooke Ashton (who bravely faces the audience in lingerie throughout most of the play). She should not be worried – she looked flawless on opening night.

Linser also said, “The rehearsal was exhausting.”

But the hours and hours of practice seem to pay off. “We were very pleased,” admitted Linser, and so was the audience. Kevin Wilson, one of the few FAU students that attended the show admitted, “The play was definitely very funny.”

By the middle of the show the audience was in such an up-beat mood from all the laughter, they even applauded a stagehand that was cleaning the set during intermission. The stagehand polity took a bow.

Peter Haig played the role of a semi-functioning alcoholic so well it would make any college student proud. When asked what it was like working with the graduate students at FAU, Linser was pleased to be apart of the show.

“The cast is amazing,” Linser said. “All the actors are really committed.”

One grad student whose performance really stood out was Susan Cato, who played the role of Poppy. “Poppy has the most hysterical facial expressions,” Stipek said. Whenever Cato walked on stage the audience started laughing before she could even spit out her lines. Her intricate facial expressions and nervous pacing back and forth were at times funnier than the actual script.

The success of the comedy made me wonder why there weren’t more FAU students in the audience. The high priced tickets might be a reason for alienating students. Twenty dollars a ticket is hardly a fair price for the average student.

“Comparably I could almost buy three movie tickets for the price of one Noises Off ticket,” Stipek said.

Other students like Wilson, who attended the show to support Rebecca Simon, a professor he had in the fall, thought that the reason for the missing FAU students is simply because there wasn’t enough promotion.

No matter what the excuse, FAU students shouldn’t be missing out on something so incredibly hilarious.