JADAR

★★★★☆

Farce comedy is a strange genre filled with hits and misses, jn terms of engaging the entire audience with its style of comedy. Noises off was certainly one of the hits, with its chaotic energy and ingenious antics that genuinely make the show feel like it’s going wrong in all the right ways. Everything but the kitchen sink was used in the set-up of jokes – though a variety of plastic penguins, axes, flowers and corded phones were used instead!

“Doors and sardines!”… a strange summary for this riot of a show and yet the most applicable in terms of describing its plot. Not only do they represent different things in the sature/sex farce genre but they also make up the main actions of the play, ironically.

Thr play revolves around a small cast of actors rehearsing for their opening night and making comedic mistakes alongside their play’s own comedy set ups. Life imitates art!

However, the show really shines in its second and third acts, where two performances of the show are given; the first showing backstage mishaps and slapstick shenanigans between courting couples, and the second returning to the normal stage layout with people revolving through the wrong doors, falling down the stairs, being injured in scuffles backstage or discovering Selsdon’s alcohol stash.

Meanwhile, characters appear through different doors, narrowly missing each other like an episode of Scooby-Doo, taking sardines in and out of rooms and going crazy as things are misplaced and moved by unseen guests.

This balance between set up (the almost correctly performed show) and the incorrect performances is so well crafted. Just when you think you know the next segment, something goes wrong to make the situation worse, characters misunderstand each other or are seen in compromising and suggestive positions, and so on.

The oscillation between the main set and back stage area worked extremely well, with a gorgeous window in the centre for characters to burst into, or break into in some scenes, or for the audience to see a snapshot of the performances as we watch the backstage antics – confusing I know… but very crafty!

The set had two levels and several doors and props that helped bring the illusion to life – at least when it was performed ‘correctly’ in the first half.

The cast portrayed the feeling of a show going wrong with contradicting stage announcements and othet actors coming on in the same outfits. I even wondered at one point if they’d bring their real-life understudies onstage for a gag!

The show started with a sense of confusion as Dotty Otley (Liza Goddard) enters the house playing housekeeper Mrs. Clackett, sardines in hand before questioning her stage directions as the ‘director’ expresses his frustration with this cast of crazies. Initially, I felt I was missing something about why sardines were so important and talked about quite so often but it soon became clear that sardines were one of a number of things that reflected the complete chaos of the show within a show – an idea that even spans back to the likes of Shakespeare.

Other characters included the ever drunken Selsdon (Matthew Kelly), stage hands Poppy (Lisa Ambalavanar) and Tim (Daniel Rainford), tired director Garry (Dan Fredenburgh), Brooke (Nikhita Lesler), who refuses to budge from the scripts, Lloyd (Simon Shepherd) whose frustration was the most relatable and goofy aspect of the show, and acting couple Frederick (Simon Coates) and Belinda (Lucy Robinson). 

At times, I felt some of the jokes fell a little flat, while one or two others went completely over my head – but all in all, it was a hilarious performance by an expressive and delightful cast of talented actors, which played with the theatre-comedy genre in an unforgettable way!

Noises off runs at The Lowry (Lyric Theatre) until October 21 and tours the UK until November 29. The West End production, which is currently running simultaneously with the tour, runs at Theatre Royal Haymarket until December 16.