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Laughter is a sure thing
Noises off The New Alexandra Theatre ***** LET'S face it, In these financially
difficult times we are all cash strapped and so placing your hard
earned money on any form of public entertainments can be the equivalent
of randomly buying a scratch card when you next fill up at the
garage. In either case there is no absolutely no
guarantee that you will get any return on your investment. Of course the
advantage of a scratch card is that it only takes a few seconds to find
out you have not won anything whereas a badly produced play can last for
as much as two tedious hours before you decide it was rubbish. How refreshing then to see something like Michael
Frayn's Noises Off and the current production by The Old Vic
whereby you get so much return for your ticket price that you might even
consider having paid a little more for the pleasure. What adds to the value stakes is you will see the
play not once but three times, each from another hilariously different
perspective and all of that trades on the fact that you know what should
be happening after the first time around. So a touring theatre company is about to face
their first night of a provincial tour of a farce called Nothing On. In the first act of Noises Off we are still at
the technical/dress rehearsal stage in which we get to see the majority
of a well-produced farce but one that is constantly interrupted with
`either actorly or `luvvie ‘questions.
In act two we see another night of the play, now
underway, but from a backstage perspective so the set is completely
reversed. There are a few difficult relationship cast issues that have
begun and by the third act we return to a `front of house view' but now
at the end of the plays run, only to witness the chaos that the
production has now become. It's probably fitting to begin with director
Lindsay Posner who has done an exceptional job of organising the company
into this high level of precision inadequacy. It's a juggling task of
immense proportions and the task of connecting the physical dots of the
play this well, must be commended. Neil Pearson is the company's director Lloyd
Dallas and whilst he has perhaps one of the easier roles the performance
line is often blurred, as, while he is directing the onstage players in
their play, you forget someone has previously been directing him to be
the director if you follow. Dotty Ottley played by Maureen Beattie is the
Mrs Overall of the Farce and whilst beginning the rehearsal as a
little ` Dotty' herself her descent into confused` on stage chaos'
culminates with her drawing a welcome round of applause for a song and
dance exit that is completely out of her character. Supported by Chris Larkin, Sasha Waddell, Simon
Bubb, Thomasin Rand, Danielle Flett and Geoffrey Freshwater this
brilliant cast all do a fantastic job of presenting caricatures of the
British Theatre. The real highlight of the show as much for his
energy as his performance is David Bark –Jones who plays Garry Lejeune.
It's hard to count the amount of times he goes up and down the stairs
either normally or hopping but must be one of the fittest stage actors
currently treading the boards, executing one complete fall from top to
bottom with balletic precision. The biggest problem with Noises Off is
that it's hard to see all of it as you will be laughing so hard at
various points that it will take valuable time for you to physically
recover. You may enter the theatre with a world of worry
but I guarantee that this production will make you laugh and forget all
of that for a time. It goads you first into amusement and then
gets you to smile at the absurd and when your defences are finally down,
piles on the physical comedy in the best tradition of Basil Fawlty and
Frank Spencer.
It's a great night's entertainment and a sure
thing compared to the lottery. If you do go to see it and the person
next to you is not laughing at some point, be concerned and check them
for a pulse. To 29-06-13. Jeff Grant
And the noise of words at the back . . . **** FOR sheer graft and shed loads of
enthusiasm, the cast of this touring farce deserve full marks. Climbing through windows, dashing up stairs - and
in the case of David Bark-Jones, somersaulting down stairs - they risk
life and limb in Michael Frayn's play within a play which proved such a
hit in the West End. Opening night in Birmingham was met with regular
burst of laughter from the audience and some cheering at the end, but at
times I found the humour repetitive and at times irritating because the
situations were so ridiculous. The story follows the rehearsal and two
performances of a play called Nothing On by a touring company,
with errors galore, testing the patience of their director Lloyd Dallas
(Neil Pearson). A clever set, representing the living room of a
country home, is able to turn inside out so that we see what goes on
backstage as well as the hilarious antics up front. There are seven doors which members of the cast
dash in and out of, and even kick, trousers fall down a few times and
shapely Thomasin Rand spends a lot of time rushing around in her undies. In the end you can only marvel at the skill with
which these actors play bungling actors, like it or not. To 29-06-14. Paul Marston
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