Noises Off: A Play in Three Acts

This is one of my favorite comedies. It was a great movie and an even greater play. When our local drama group put it on a few years back,it was so successful that they had to continue its run for an extra week, which was unheard of. It is a brilliantly funny play and a standard for any drama group.I have seen it performed on the stage twice now and it never fails to amuse me. It is one of those plays that will be eternal. It has a very English feel about it, which is not a bad thing, and it put me in mind of Alan Bates' 'Lust In The Dust', which is another English play, even though one of the main characters is American. That was an import also, from New Theatre Publications. Both plays are a must for the repertoire of any progressive Drama Society.

NOISES OFF is the hilarious play within a play about a group of actors performing a touring edition of a British farce entitled NOTHING ON. The reader (and performers and audience members for that matter) are only allowed to see NOTHING ON from the first act. The first time they see it, it is the night of the dress rehearsal. The next time they see the act it is from behind the stage several weeks into the company's tour. The final act of the show is once again a performance of the first act of NOTHING ON, but seen from the front of the stage several weeks later. The hilarity involved ensues from the interactions of the performers and their relationships with each other. NOISES OFF displays that as funny as a play might be from the audience, sometimes it pares in comparison to the hilarity ensuing behind the scenes.

I love the movie, but reading the actual play is even better! It's such a worthwhile read, you can just picture what's really happening. If you're into sex farce and comedy, this is definitely the play for you!

It's such a shame that both the script and the movie are out of print. "Noises Off!" is the funniest comedy I have ever seen or read. In "Noises Off!" a group of actors is preparing to stage a production of the smash farce "Nothing On." This is part of why this play is so funny: The play that the actors are butchering is hilarious in itself. All of the actors and stage hands are inept in their own unique way. They forget lines and stage directions, lose contact lenses and deal with a set that won't work right. In each act, at least one actor has it out for another. Flowers, bottles of alcohol and entirely too many sardines create havoc. Frayn reaches supreme physical and verbal comedy. If you've seen it on stage, you know how funny it is (and how difficult to perform). But, the script contains hilarious "bios" of the actors that presumably appear in the playbill. And the side-by-side scripts of the second act (lines and directions for what is happening on stage and back stage) are really funny. This play is the funniest thing I've read!Note about the movie: Unlike the movie, the play is not set in the U.S. Consequently, place names and terminology are sometimes confusing. And, the play ends differently than the movie.

This is the most hilarious play I have ever read, it is one of the better comedies out there. If you have a chance, go read it or watch it. It is wonderfully entertaining.