Noises Off – Phoenix Theatre, London

Writer: Michael Frayn

Director: Lindsay Posner

Michael Frayn’s fabulous farce Noises Off is celebrating its well deserved 40th anniversary, rightly continuing on its reign as one of Britain’s best comedic productions.

Noises Off follows a touring theatre company as they perform the fictional show Nothing On, a typical farce in nature, featuring a ditsy housekeeper surprised at her tax-dodging employers coming home for a secret anniversary weekend. Equally surprised is the estate agent and the object of his affections who have also arrived at the house for a secret bunk-up, not to mention the opportunistic burglar who’s yet another spanner in the works. Cue Carry On style trouser-dropping and risqué innuendos. But this is a play-within-a-play, so outside of this already humorous show are behind-the-scenes views of the theatre company who are just as farcical as their on stage characters.

Act One focuses on the last rehearsal before opening night, with director Lloyd (Alexander Hanson) desperate to herd together his unrehearsed cast in a last-ditch attempt to at least be slightly ready for curtain. Dotty (Felicity Kendal) can’t remember her cues, the Burglar (Matthew Kelly) can’t remember his lines, and Brooke (Sasha Frost) can’t remember where she lost her contact lenses. The hilarious back-and-forth between the characters and the director is quick witted and deftly delivered, nobody missing a beat as they hit every comedic cue perfectly. Jonathan Coy does a wonderful job of playing the harmlessly curious Freddie, his gentle mannerisms elevating the hapless character brilliantly. Tracy-Ann Oberman is excellently cast as the glamorous Belinda, mischievously gossiping her way around the set while still attempting to hold the show together as best she can.

The second act is interestingly shown from behind the set halfway through the tour’s run, still in just as much of a shambles as they were from the get-go. With cast relationships affecting their performances it’s down to stagehands Tim (Hubert Burton) and Poppy (Pepter Lunkuse) to try and keep things ticking along, much to their dismay. As the fictional curtain rises, most of the second act is played in silence, using the amazing cast’s skills of mime and slapstick to advance the brilliantly well layered storyline. It’s excellent to see the progression of each character – Felicity Kendal and Alexander Hanson especially displaying the slow breakdown with hilarious results.

Not one cast member can be faulted for their performances as they were all impeccable. The gruelling pace of the show requires a lot of hard work, perfect timing and meticulous choreography to ensure that all of the mishaps and errors are pulled off without a hitch. Playing a cast of terribly underprepared and unprofessional actors shows an impressive feat of talent in itself, the worse they are in the fictional show, the better they are in the actual production, culminating in a nesting doll of brilliant writing, acting and direction.

The fantastically farcical fishy goings-on at this show-within-a-show make for a ferociously funny evening. Each act delivers ridiculously easy-to -follow comedy, while still being surprisingly clever overall. The extreme physical and mental demand on the fabulous cast definitely makes it a show to make noise about.

Runs until 11 March 2023