Phoenix Theatre – until 11 March 2023
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
The 40th anniversary tour production of Michael Frayn’s classic comedy arrives in the West End with a sublime cast with enough energy to run the National Grid.
Frayn’s sharp but affectionate pastiche of the dull sex comedies of the 70s and 80s combines with hilarious backstage entanglements and power struggles of a company on a long tour to create an almost perfect farce.
Holding a plate of sardines, Felicity Kendal totters onto the large middleclass house set (with lots of doors – doors and sardines are important!) like a younger Mrs Overall, gets confused and is interrupted by a voice from the auditorium – setting up act one as a tech run for “Nothing On”, a woeful comedy about tax evasion and estate agents that opens the next day. Dotty Ottley (Kendal) has put her savings into one last tour, and the company struggle through the run despite some of them having no clue what is going on after two weeks rehearsals. Director Lloyd (Alexander Hanson) rages and coaxes the cast through the play, building up a little sympathy as he deals with questions and interruptions, until his treatment of the younger women in the company and hapless stage manager Tim (a fantastically frazzled Hubert Burton) becomes more obvious. This first act is very funny as what we expect from a gentle comedy, establishing the characters quirks nicely.
When the curtain rises for the second act, the set has reversed and we are now backstage, midway through the tour. The tempestuous relationship between Dotty and Gary Lejeune (Joseph Millson) has led to jealous rages as he suspects she is interested in another man, and Dotty has locked herself in the dressing room as Tim and assistant stage manager Poppy (Pepter Lunkuse) call beginners. Further complications lead to frenetic and physical comedy as the “actors” valiantly continue the show, but we see the chaos raging backstage as they exit to go “onstage” to deliver their lines before reappearing to continue arguments and fights with a series of props that mimic the shenanigans with props in the fictional play. As this is backstage, and the company are professionals, the chaos is almost silent, with brilliant miming, grimacing and pratfalls, before all hell breaks loose and sabotage and revenge take over.
There is a short break to catch your breath before the brief third act begins – the final night of the tour where everything that can go wrong does go wrong, ramping up the physical comedy even more. The technicalities and intricacy of the play are incredible, and director Lindsay Posner uses Simon Higlett’s set brilliantly, and the cast’s timing and chemistry is a joy.
Felicity Kendal has extraordinary energy as Dotty, lots of fun as Mrs Clackett and hilarious making moves on hapless Freddie (Jonathan Coy) backstage. Coy makes poor Freddie more than the butt of jokes in this production – he has a charming world weary innocence that makes Belinda’s (Tracy-Ann Oberman) protection of him more maternal. Oberman is a delight as the peacekeeper who cannot help but gossip, and her exaggerated gestures and fake laughs as she tries to cover and get the plot back on track are masterful. Joseph Millson is phenomenal as Gary – throwing his body around and clowning brilliantly, but also nailing Gary’s verbal tic of never being able to finish a… you know, unless it is in a script. Brooke Ashton is fabulous as Vicki – wide-eyed and determined to say her lines in the correct order, no matter what is going on. Matthew Kelly effortlessly steals every scene as Selsdon, the old ham always on the lookout for a drink and launching into interminable stories at the drop of a hat – simply wonderful.
A lot of comedies from the 80s and 90s just wouldn’t work today, but Noises Off still sparkles on so many levels. The cleverness and intricacy leaves you in awe. The in-jokes about touring and the meta comedy elements will always appeal to theatre lovers, the tax avoidance jokes are very topical, and new audiences will just cry with laughter at the non-stop parade of gags – and we all need a laugh right now.
Noise Off is rightly hailed as a classic – a night of unabashed silliness and joy.