Actor Francis Guinan is hard at work practicing being drunk. The Elmhurst resident wants to get it just right as Selsdon Mowbray in Michael Frayn’s hilarious backstage farce “Noises Off” at Steppenwolf Theatre, Sept. 12-Oct. 27.
“Selsdon is a guy that came into the theater the same time as Gielgud and Olivier and Richardson. In his training, there’s something of the stand-and-deliver style of acting. Not necessarily Brando-type realism,” Guinan said. “He’s a drinker as well in the style of Richard Burton — a high-functioning alcoholic. I think he’s probably come to a point in his career where he doesn’t really care if he works for a living. But I think he loves being in the theater.”
In addition to playing Selsdon, an actor in a problem-plagued theater troupe, Guinan plays the role of Burglar in the play-within-a-play. That’s a sex farce called “Nothing On,” in which the cast is dealing with missed cues, bungled lines, the carryover of offstage rivalries, and, of all things, sardines.
Guinan noted that it’s important for the actors to keep two storylines going at once — the onstage and offstage ones. “You have to keep both realities in mind,” he stressed.
Guinan admitted that he relates to Selsdon because he is in a similar place in his career. “I’ve taken my pensions and I don’t really have to work to pay my mortgage and that sort of thing,” he explained. “But this seemed like such a wonderful opportunity. I couldn’t pass it up.”
In addition, Guinan admitted, “I like Selsdon so much. He’s sort of a happy-go-lucky guy. And I’m newly old myself.”
And, as we mentioned, he’s working hard to be an appropriate drunk in this farce. That issue came up because the actor admitted thinking about how his character deals with his alcoholism in his day-to-day work. “It was getting darker and darker, like Ray Milland in ‘Lost Weekend,’” Guinan said. Director Anna D. Shapiro steered the actor away from that focus.
“She said, ‘He enjoys his life. Drinking is part of it and nobody seems to mind if he drinks after the show. They’re just trying to keep him from drinking during the show. On the other hand, you probably can’t tell when he’s been drinking.’”
Shapiro urged the actor to realize that the situation with Selsdon is a positive one. She said, “He’s more impish.”
This isn’t the first slapstick comedy experience for Guinan. He recalls that in a production of “The Robber Bridegroom” in Minneapolis, “I ran around with a head in a box.” The Steppenwolf ensemble member since 1979 also cited the broad comedy of that theater company’s productions of “Hir” and “Coyote Ugly.”
“Comedies were something of a staple for quite a while at Steppenwolf,” Guinan recalled. He admitted that, when it comes to broad comedies, he enjoys “the sheer gall of doing a particular bit. You’re not really held back. Huge emotions are called for.”
Guinan admitted, though, “Technically, it’s very challenging to get the timing just right, and I enjoy that quite a bit.”
“Noises Off” director Anna D. Shapiro also directed Guinan at Steppenwolf in “August: Osage County,” which transferred to Broadway, and “The Minutes.”
Guinan relishes working with director Shapiro because, “She’s very much informed by the story she wants to tell within the script,” the actor praised. “Her blocking is just wonderful and she cuts through an awful lot of noise.”
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Francis over literally my entire career,” Shapiro said. “We have certainly weathered storms together and raised as many glasses to our successes. But as much as I love working with him, my favorite Fran moments are when I get to sit in the audience and feel his work transport me again and again. He is an absolute master and I adore him.”
Performing with Steppenwolf Theatre all these years has been wonderful, Guinan indicated. “It’s a terrific place to work,” he declared. “The comradery and the brother and sisterhood of the place is something you don’t get anywhere else.”
For more information about “Noises Off” and reservations, call 312-335-1650 or visit steppenwolf.org.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.