After two weeks of rehearsal, the cast and crew of a touring production are in the throes of their final dress rehearsal. As late night becomes early morning, lines and props are frequently absent or in the wrong place, the set doesn’t function properly, and an elderly actor keeps going AWOL. Despite a sense of impending doom, the actors seem quite at ease with the fact that their performances are far from ready, assured by their director that all they need to worry about are doors and sardines. What could possibly go wrong?
Michael Frayn’s Noises Off is a farce within a farce, where we observe a repertory company at the beginning, middle and bitter end of their tour of the play Nothing On, under the direction of the philandering Lloyd Dallas (Simon Shepherd). Having apparently had a previous liaison with his assistant stage manager Poppy (Nikhita Lesler), Lloyd has turned his attention towards the pretty, young ingenue Brooke (Lisa Ambalavanar). Headlining his company of actors as a scatty housekeeper is the aptly names Dotty Otley (Liza Goddard) whose off-stage love interest Garry (Dan Fredenburgh) is also cast as a sleazy estate agent. Frederick (Simon Coates), a sensitive luvvie afraid of the sight of his own blood, the thoroughly dramatic Belinda (Lucy Robinson) and a doddery old soak Selsdon (Matthew Kelly) complete Nothing On’s cast, whilst stage manager Tim (Daniel Rainford) does his best to hold everything together. As the tour progresses, passions run high, tempers fray and predictably everything descends into chaos.
Noises Off has been revived again and again with good reason; the production is a technical nightmare that cannot fail to impress on some level if done well. If a large, two-storey set with multiple entrances and exits that rotates through 180 degrees between acts isn’t challenging enough, precision timing is vital to ensure action ‘on stage’ and ‘backstage’ is seamless and slick. To their credit, the company achieve this extremely well and the hours of drilling required to accomplish the feat are quite evident.
Despite being on stage perhaps the least, Kelly’s portrayal of Selsdon, for whom Nothing On is likely to be his last chance as a jobbing actor, is well judged and a highlight of the production. As Garry, Fredenburgh brings great physicality to his role whilst Rainford as the put upon stage manager creates likeable angst and terror as the action around him descends into, well, farce.
For lovers of farce, Noises Off will not disappoint, complete with all the usual trappings, including a scantily clad young woman and trousers round ankles. Where the production often doesn’t hit the mark for me however is in it failing to create clear distinctions between the portrayals of actors as actors, and actors as their characters. I find this can make the narrative quite difficult to follow at times. Although this doesn’t seem to bother the majority of the Lyceum’s audience, judging by the rapturous applause received on opening night in Sheffield.
Photos by Pamela Raith
