All-star cast delight in wonderfully silly revival of Noises Off – review
We reviewed a production of Noises Off a few years ago, so we had a fair idea of what to expect, but for the uninitiated, Michael Frayn’s 1982 farce is a wonderfully silly slapstick comedy.
A play-within-a-play, we’re introduced to the cast and creative team behind fictional comedy Nothing On, and notionally we watch the same thing – the show’s first act – three times over.
Act one offers us a glimpse into the tech run the night before the show opens, while act two gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the play mid-tour followed by a front-of-house view of a disastrous performance towards the tour’s conclusion.
Of course, we’re not simply watching the same content three times in a row – the first act serves to introduce us to the characters, both their stage personas and (during the rehearsal) snippets of their actual thoughts and feelings towards one another, and crucially runs us through what’s supposed to be happening.
