Noises Off, At The Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

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Brilliant ensemble acting retains the magic in this comedy revival

Michael Frayn’s award winning Noises Off, has returned to the Lyric for the first time since its triumphant premiere in 1982.

Jeremy Herrin (All My Sons, Wolf Hall, This House), has given us a new production of this iconic British comedy which has lost none of its entertainment value in the thirty-odd years since its first staging.

For those who haven't seen the play before, the plot centres around the in-fighting, backstabbing and general bad behaviour of a troupe of actors as they rehearse a play entitled 'Nothing On' in advance of going on tour.

In the 'Nothing On' play , the Blairs are supposed to be living as tax exiles in Spain, but make a secret visit home believing their housekeeper (brilliantly played by Meera Syla) is off duty. Little do they know that their house is the location for a secret assignation by two employees of the estate agency letting the house.There follows a catalogue of misunderstandings, of entrances and exits, doors opening and closing, plates of sardines vanishing and reappearing, and so on.

Meanwhile, front of house, Lloyd, the director of the play, who feels he is far superior to the role of directing a farce is becoming increasingly irritated. They are getting things wrong, standing in the wrong spot, forgetting their lines. At the start its all passive aggression, 'sweetie' this and ' darling' that, but it soon degenerates into outright hostility.

There are secret romances going on, jealousy and tantrums, alcoholic actor Selsdon (Simon Rouse) is either forgetting his lines or disappearing with a bottle, Belinda (Debra Gillett) is losing her contact lenses on stage and Dotty Ottley (Meera Syal) is having fits of hysteria at her broken romance with a younger actor.

As the tour progresses the gloves are off and its now constant bickering and even physical fights as, in the second act, the set reverses so that the audience sees the 'backstage' antics of the cast. They swear and swat at each other, then hurtle on stage to try to deliver their lines as the play disintegrates into complete farce.

There were stand out performances from a cast which includes Lois Chimimba, Jonathan Cullen, Debra Gillett, Amy Morgan, Enyi Okoronkwo, Lloyd Owen, Daniel Rigby, Simon Rouse and Meera Syal. What a show of technical timing , verbal dexterity and sheer on- stage energy. It must be exhausting.

The creative team, with design by Max Jones. Lighting by amy Mae, sound by Lorna Munden and Movement by Joyce Henderson, also deserve to be mentioned.
Fights were brilliantly choreographed by Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown

Michael Frayn, the playwright commented: “It’s a great personal pleasure for me, of course, to see my play come home, after all its travels around the world in the last forty years, to the theatre where it took its first hopeful but still uncertain steps.”

Michael will be in conversation with Simon Stephens about the play on Monday 22 July 5:00pm

Noises Off 27 Jun - 03 Aug 2019- run extended due to popular demand
Tickets £10 - £44

Running time 2hr 10mins

Ages12+

Anne Flaherty

 

July 5, 2019