The phone rings in an English Country-style home that the audience has had ample chance to enjoy as the lights come up on "Noises Off." Mrs. Clackett walks across the room, speaking to the phone before she even picks up the receiver and the game has begun. But what, indeed is the game?

Michael Frayn was inspired to write his Olivier-award winning play "Noises Off" while watching one of his own works from backstage. Once he saw the drama behind the scenes, it was too funny for him to not commit his thoughts to the play that began life as "Exits" in 1982.

The cast for this production is led by star of stage and big and little screen Harriet Harris. Playing the dotty Dotty Otley, nominally a star of a long-running Brit-com series, who is past her prime mentally, but whose paramour keeps her young. Dotty is the anchor star and primary draw of the sex comedy "Nothing On" that will be coming to a theatre far, far away. And trust me, that's good! Harris is a master comedienne in both physical and aural comedy. Her comic timing, familiar to many of us from her television work on "Frasier," is spot-on, as she leads the cast down the primrose path of the drama-dy. Dotty's erstwhile lover is Garry LeJeune, played by Scott Barrow. Garry is the handsome dim bulb leading man who is May in the May-September romance. They are very hush-hush, but somehow someone always knows the tale. His intelligence makes stumps look like diplomats, and we discover in Act Two that he has a vindictive streak.

Lloyd Dallas is the nominal leader of "Nothing On," as he is the Director. Andrew Weems plays the beleaguered Lloyd who has, shall we say, several irons in the fire among the cast. Lloyd is having the time of his life-initially-as he is cavorting with both Assistant Stage Manager Poppy Norton-Taylor, played by Jessica Ires Morris, and ingénue Brooke Ashton, played by Katie Fabel, whose acquaintance with innocence is nodding at best. This triangle is exposed relatively early in Act One and makes for true farce in Act Three. Katie Fabel and Scott Barrow have tough roles-it truly takes a sharp talent to play a completely clueless actor. Awareness of your surroundings is key.

Belinda Blair and Frederick Fellowes, played by Laila Robins and Matt Bradford Sullivan respectively, are the actors who portray the couple whose house is the scene for the interpolated play. Belinda is the member of the company who knows most of the scuttlebutt and shares it oh-so-confidentially. Frederick is the self-deprecating actor who makes excuses for his faults rather than correcting them. He becomes faint at the sight of blood, especially his own. This is unfortunate since he's also prone to nosebleeds. Belinda is an incurable optimist, until Act Three, when she largely recovers from her innate happiness.

Edmond Genest plays Selsdon Mowbray, the aging scion of a fine acting family,. Selsdon has trod the boards nearly since birth, almost always in the shadow of his famous father. Selsdon's considerable intelligence however is focused primarily on drink and hiding his stash of alcohol, and his fame is primarily for disappearing. He has excellent delivery, when he can remember his lines, but his hearing leaves a great deal to be desired.

Company manager Tim Allgood, played here by Jack Moran, is an ingénue of sorts. He is trying to hold this far-from-merry band of actors together and the angst is very visible on his young unshaven face. When we first meet him, Tim is nearly dead on his feet. He's built the English interior on his own in only 48 hours. What further trials could this young man have? Oh, good audience, just wait!

The F.M. Kirby Theatre, where Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is presenting "Noises Off," has about 400 seats. Consequently, every nuance of expression is easy to see. When playing farce, the inclination at times is to use broad expression. That said, while the troupe of the "Nothing On" is dinner-theatre quality, the company of "Noises Off" is stellar.

The play is, as noted, divided into three acts, and all three prominently feature sardines. Who would have thought that tiny fish could play such a large supporting role?! Act One is that disastrous Dress/Tech rehearsal most actors and stagecrafters have been through. Common belief among theatre people is that a horrible Tech yields a great production opening, though with this group, that remains to be seen. The Tech is going so badly in fact that Lloyd encourages them to think of their first performance for an audience as the Dress. Yikes!

This production is winningly directed by Paul Mullins, long a company member of Shakespeare Theatre of NJ. Mullins' staging has Lloyd pacing up and down the aisles of the F.M. Kirby Theatre, chewing and expectorating pithy observations, while articulating his benighted wonder and discontent in his hour off the stage. Lloyd is with the audience during Act One, even as he is the outside observer of the actors. His task is a labor of Hercules, as he attempts to weave a wavering band of actors into a weakly written sex farce to be performed for pensioners from Weston-super-Mare to Stockton-on-Tees. Act One is also when we first learn of the Weston Triangle-Poppy and Lloyd and Brooke - oh my! In fact, Belinda informs the group of the Dotty/Garry liaison, then of the Lloyd/Brooke liaison, but only when Poppy flees the set in tears, does the triangle become evident.

Act Two brings "Nothing On" up front and places "Noises Off" in back. Charlie Calvert's set is reversed, and Michael Giannitti's lighting is both fore and aft. Now we get to see what's going on behind the scenes both literally and figuratively. It is several weeks into the run and personal situations have deteriorated badly. Frederick's wife left him during Act One, so Dotty is using him for her own devices to make Garry jealous. The friction between Dotty and Garry is palpable, with Dotty nearly refusing to go on. This of course puts the cast in turmoil since Poppy is Dotty's understudy and, if Selsdon is on a bender, Tim will need to go on for him, but then there will be no one to run the show! Lloyd shows up to woo Brooke and Poppy tells Lloyd she's preggers. All of this is balanced with physical comedy and expert timing that show the true mettle of this cast. Scott Barrow's face is as mobile as a yoga master and Harriet Harris' physical comedy in her charwoman outfit, along with some broad farcical sexual innuendo, drive the action. Add a phallacious cactus, some implied sexual activity and frankly I wondered that there is not a rating of NC-17 for some of the activity, which is hilarious. Truly, there is a portion of Act Two that could be labeled as a slapstick ballet.

By the time we achieve Act Three, we are on a rocket sled to Hell. The troupe has by now absorbed the show, but the relationships among all of them have deteriorated completely. One cannot even say they are phoning it in, since the phone is ripped limb from limb, wire from wire, and receiver from body, to extremely comic effect. By the time the Final Line is said, it is certain that the fictional audience in Stockton-on-Tees is thoroughly confused. You, however, will find that you can no longer control the muscles in your face. Some of the action is so surprising that it may take a second before your brain registers what's happened. There is nothing in the world like watching excellent, classically trained actors playing the worst incarnation of the profession. The entire cast does it with such glee that it is a joy to behold.

Shakespeare Theatre of NJ presents Michael Frayn's "Noises Off" at the F.M. Kirby Theatre, on the Drew University Campus in Madison, NJ, through August 30. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday with matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Purchase tickets via the website http://www.shakespearenj.org, or call 973/408-5600.