Noises Off - What A Farce!

Fun fact: Playwright Michael Frayn's title Noises Off is named after the theatrical stage direction indicating sounds coming from offstage intended for the audience to hear.

Target Audience: This play is funny and light, a great choice to kick off a night out on the town! Suitable for young and mature audiences.

Feel-o-meter: This show leaves you feeling exhilarated from the giggles and laughter and makes you realize mistakes happen but the show (or life) still goes on.

Standout Actor: Megan Hilty plays Brooke Ashton, the selfish/bad actor who remains the one constant throughout the ever changing staging and script. Hilty is so good at being so bad, her performance is hilarious.

Verdict: A BIG round of applause for this Roundabout production.

What a spectacular way to start the year with this fast-paced hilarious farce! From the moment the play began I wondered what on earth was going on with the batty lady holding a plate of sardines on stage. All is soon revealed, and we understand we are watching a play within a play, aptly named Nothing On. The "batty lady" is Andrea Martin playing Mrs Clackett and Dotty Otlley. While Martin's character Dotty cannot follow simple stage direction and memorize her lines, Martin does a remarkable job of playing Dotty and Mrs Clackett. The fellow thespians match her excellence throughout this production and all deserve mention for their amusing performances. Noises Off presents the behind-the-scenes action of the semi professional actors and a haggard director tirelessly trying to complete one successful run of this trivial play. While the odds seem against them, it's plain to see it is simply they who are odd, and the play unfolds around them in a series of unfortunate and outrageously funny moments.

Noises Off was originally presented at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, London in 1982. The following year it opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway and now thirty-three years later the show is back on Broadway at the American Airline Theatre and it is brilliant. Playwright Michael Frayn was inspired to write Noises Off in 1970 while watching a performance from the wings of The Two of Us, a farce he had written for Lynn Redgrave. The writing is genius and incorporates; English wit, divaesque antics, a touch of slapstick and comedic beats which build at the perfect pace, so that by the second Act I was crying with laughter.

Many audience members might not realize the complexity and demands of this script, , with small actions or props appearing insignificant in one scene and becoming immensely important in the next, leaving the actors no room for error. The excitement of watching this puzzle come together is fantastic. The cast is on point and everyone (front and back stage) deserved the standing ovation. Director Jeremy Herrin has done an outstanding job of creating organized chaos and he is certainly no stranger to English humor or the stage. Herrin studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and trained at both the National Theatre and Royal Court, where he became Deputy Artistic Director in 2009 until 2012. His successful UK career and immense talent landed him the prestigious role as Artistic Director of Headlong in 2012. In other words, he knows what he is doing.

The roundabout activities of Noises Off is a perfect choice for the Roundabout Theatre Company, which is celebrating 50 years of fantastic theatre. Noises Off will no doubt bring further success to the company and bring great joy to it's audiences. Let the cheer and laughter from the holiday season continue into the New Year with this show. It is well worth it and total fun!

Reviewed by Nicola Quinn

Friday 1st January 2016
American Airlines Theatre, New York City
Find me on Twitter: @newyorktheatre

View our show pages for more information about Noises Off, American Airlines Theater.