Writer: Michael Frayn
Director: Nigel Ryan
The auditorium at the Solstice Arts Centre is packed to the rafters for its penultimate performance of Noises Off. I first saw English playwright Michael Frayn’s uproarious farce at London’s Savoy Theatre in the West End in the mid 80’s. To my great surprise, during the opening scene, the actor Geoffrey Palmer barked “You leave the sardines and you put the receiver back” towards the stage from right beside me in the aisle.
On this occasion, the loud voice directing ‘Dotty Otley’s’ cockney housekeeper, Mrs Clackett from the stalls belongs to Ray Burke playing temperamental director ‘Lloyd Dallas’. Ciara Cassoni is perfectly cast as the dithering home-help who just wants to put her feet up for two minutes and enjoy her sardines.
In Noises Off, a characterful acting ensemble attempts to rehearse and tour with a comedy called Nothing On. The play is a farce of three first acts, two of which are seen from the perspective of the audience while the third comes from the wonderfully novel point of view of the cast and crew backstage. What ensues is an energetic but chaotic parody of a thoroughly hapless theatrical endeavour which fails spectacularly on every level.
Comic duo Keith Nealon and Deirdre Doyle are outstanding in their roles. Nealon’s portrayal of the blundering estate agent, Roger Tramplemain who tries his utmost to bed Doyle’s scantily clad Inland Revenue employee, Vicki, is nothing short of hilarious. An image of him hopping up the entire flight of stairs with laces of both shoes tied together and subsequently falling down said stairs into a flailing forward roll will live long in my memory. And just as the audience responds to Nealon’s shenanigans with applause, so too do we clap in appreciation for Doyle’s priceless turn as the ditzy, inexperienced actress in a constant battle with her contact lenses.
Padraig McLaughlin and Cecily Gibbons are equally strong as returning homeowners and tax-evaders, the Brents and their players Frederick Fellowes and Belinda Blair. McLaughlin is particularly polished. His representation of the anxiety-ridden, upper-crust playwright appears effortless and he segues seamlessly between three characters. Gibbons is thoroughly convincing as the sensible and supportive hand by his side.
Niall Conway, Cathy Carey and Johnnie Grant are also excellent in their Nothing On roles of overworked stage manager Tim, love-lorn assistant manager Poppy and elderly, alcoholic thespian Selsdon Mowbray and his trouser-dropping, burglar alter ego.
The mixture of American and British accents in Noises Off can be challenging for its actors. A depiction of the troupe being mostly American playing British roles is, however, a necessary tool devised by Frayn to delineate between the frantic English characters onstage and their exhausted, egotistical, real-life American personas offstage. McLaughlin nails it. His rp (received pronunciation) British is perfect. Nealon too, although his second offering sounds suspiciously Liverpudlian. The majority of the ensemble makes a good fist of it but inconsistency in a coherent set of accents across the board is distracting.
To be fair, this play is notoriously complex to stage and each member of the cast has a multitudinous amount of balls to juggle. Noises Off is a veritable marathon of physical action and complicated timings to execute. It is also a technical and logistical nightmare for the crew to navigate. Yet, Enda Nugent’s and Peter Kenny’s two-storey revolving set with its myriad array of opening and closing doors is simply stunning. Props are exactly where they are supposed to be at any given moment and costumes nod credibly to the period and give context within proceedings. The stage management of this production will have been far from a walk in the park.
Director Nigel Ryan did not just have a mountain to climb, he had K2 to scale. But scale it he did, and with tremendous success. I recall laughing at the show my first time around but do not remember the slap-stick antics as being so side-splittingly funny as it is tonight. The long, standing ovation is well deserved. Navan Theatre Group have pitted themselves against the West End performance in my mind and despite the company of the late, great Geoffrey Palmer, the latter has come away wanting.
Reviewed 29th March 2026.
