Noises off won the Laurence Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Comedy in 1982.  Directed by The Queen’s Theatre Artistic Director, Bob Carlton, members of the resident ensemble Cut to the Chase, bring Michael Frayn’s comedy vigorously to life. 

Frayn’s farce within a farce uses this much-debated genre to highlight the hilarities of human nature by taking the audience backstage of a touring theatre company. 

Inside the program for Noises off was another for Nothing On, the fictional play.  Apparently it was January and I was in the Grand Theatre, Weston-Super-Mare on opening night. 

Act One is set on the stage during final rehearsals of Nothing On. The living room and upstairs of a country house is laden with doors leading to other unseen rooms, and banisters and balconies just waiting to be fallen over. The fictional characters fluff their lines, forget where the ever present plate of sardines are supposed to be and are frequently stopped by the director Lloyd Dallas (Shaun Hennessy), from among the audience.  Selsdon, (Stuart Organ) the alcoholic actor who has been missing all day, appears from the audience too, fooling me for a moment that he was an old man already needing the bathroom. The farce begins slowly but cleverly with lots of perfectly timed entrances and exits, banging doors and mishaps but a disappointing lack of humour.  It wasn’t until the second act that I appreciated the skill involved in the writing and directing of this play. 

The stage was turned 180º during the interval and we now viewed the same scene but from backstage, halfway through the tour of Nothing On. Act 2 fulfilled all the promises of sidesplitting humour as the pace accelerated considerably.  The cast seemed to melt comfortably into their parts as if they felt more at home with chaos. They performed as the characters in the energetic, desperately less than perfect play, to perfection. In true farce style, trousers were dropped, women de robed, vases smashed, cactus poked up backsides and quite brilliantly, a plate of sardines was thrown in a frenzy from character to character just in time to reach Dotty (Kim Ismay) before her next entrance. 

I was left with a satisfying ache in the stomach after this act, but there was one more to come.  The third act was set front of stage again on the last night of the tour.  The same scene is played a third time, the cast of Nothing On have gone from dynamic to lethargic, they perform singularly, making up lines and talking to themselves.  This act saw the seemingly pointless and one-dimensional character of Vicki (Natasha Moore) shine. Throughout the play, she moves like a robotic doll, concentrating on her lines and her positions, never considering any of her colleagues.  As all other characters forget their lines, stand in the wrong places and generally fall apart, she continues flawlessly, no matter what, even if it means talking to the wall.  Luckily the scene isn’t played out to the end, I don’t think I could have sat through the commotion again.  The energy seemed to die away slightly at this point, along with the characters themselves.  Overall, the evening was entertaining and enjoyed immensely by the audience. Do go and see for some good old fashioned humour, but leave your frustration at home or you’ll be covering your eyes with one hand and shaking your fist with the other shouting, “No!” 

CAST 

Georgina Field (Belinda/Flavia Brent)

Shaun Hennessy (Lloyd Dallas)

Kim Ismay (Dotty Otley/Mrs Clackett)

Simon Jessop (Frederick Fellowes/Philip Brent/Sheikh)

Sam Kordbacheh (Tim Allgood)

Natasha Moore (Brooke Ashton/Vicki)

Stuart Organ (Selsdon Mowbray/Burglar)

Rowan Talbot (Gary Lejeune/Roger Tramplemain)

Lucy Thackeray (Poppy Norton-Taylor)

Director- Bob Carlton 

Designer- Rodney Ford 

Lighting Designer- Paul Stone 

Action Co-ordinator- Nicholas Hall
 

Noises Off

By Michael Frayn

Previews: Fri 17 Apr and Sat 18 Apr at 8pm

First Night: Mon 20 Apr at 7.30pm

Performances: Tue – Sat at 8pm

Captioned Performance: Wed 29 Apr at 8pm

Matinees: Thurs 30 Apr and Sat 9 May at 2.30pm

Signed Performance: Wed 6 May at 8pm

Audio Described: Sat 9 May at 2.30pm

The Queen’s Theatre, Billet Lane, Hornchurch RM11 1QT

Tube: Hornchurch

Tickets: £13.50 - £22

Box Office: 01708 443333

Booking online at www.queens-theatre.co.uk