Appropriately, the landmark 1,000th production at the iconic Brisbane Arts Theatre is a play about a play.
The title refers to the theatrical stage direction which indicates sounds coming from off-stage — the relevance of this becomes clear as the action progresses.
The play-within-a-play, entitled ‘Nothing On’, is as poor a farce as the deliberately unsubtle innuendo of its title. ‘Nothing On’ incorporates all of the classic and clichéd elements of British bedroom farce, namely: slamming doors, improbable plot-lines, trousers falling down, and girls running around in underwear – all served with as much innuendo as you can stand! Michael Frayn’s play ‘Noises Off’, first performed in 1982 (but subsequently updated), effectively uses the play-within-a-play mechanism to parody the genre.
The first act is the dress-rehearsal of ‘Nothing On’. With just hours to go before opening night, we discover the increasingly frustrated and acerbic director with us in the audience, calling out instructions, and ultimately taunts and insults, to his hapless cast and crew. We quickly see the complex inter-relationships of the actors and crew off-stage are controlling events in a way the director could never hope to achieve.
Photos from the opening night of 'Noises Off'.
The second act finds us backstage, watching the very same scenes during a matinee performance mid-way through the season. As we watch the drama of the private lives of the actors unfold and unravel against the reverse of the set, with backstage warfare conducted in mime and sign language, bizarrely, ‘Nothing on’, is presented largely unscathed to the fictional audience on the other side of the set.
The muffled, genteel canned laughter of the fictional audience, when contrasted with the increasingly frenetic and often violent (but slapstick) backstage action, makes for a rather surreal experience. There is so much going on in this scene that it is difficult to take it all in — tears of uncontrollable laughter are likely to contribute to an overwhelming desire to see this scene again!
The third act finds us close to the final performance, and things have become as chaotic as they could possibly be. There are alarming crashes and exclamations heard off-stage. The battles over love-affairs are now in overdrive, and some of the actors stagger miscued onto the stage, dishevelled, sometimes drunk, and liberally shedding sardines.
‘Noises Off’ goes beyond parodying farce. Michael Frayn’s script comes full-circle and raises farce to a whole new level. In comedy, and in this play specifically, timing is everything. Alex Lanham’s direction and the excellent cast deliver a fine performance for this landmark Brisbane Arts Theatre production. The frenetic pace of the second act will leave you breathless, largely from helpless laughter.
‘Noises Off’ has a rich history of entertaining theatre audiences, and this memorable production is no exception — don’t miss it!
Sardines, anyone?‘Noises Off’ plays the Brisbane Arts Theatre until 15 August.
