Noises Off - by Michael Frayn
- A 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. According to the playwright, "It was funnier from behind than in front and I thought that one day I must write a farce from behind."
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- In his plot for Noises Off, Frayn plays on the concept of a play within a play, in this case a dreadful sex comedy titled Nothing On - the type of play in which young girls run about in their underwear, old men drop their trousers, and many doors continually open and shut. Nothing On is set in "a delightful 16th-century posset mill" that has been converted to a modern dwelling for which renters are solicited.
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- Each of the three acts of Noises Off contains a performance of the first act of Nothing On, and much of the comedy emerges from the subtle variations in each version as off-stage chaos affects on-stage performance, with a great deal of slapstick. The contrast between players' on-stage and off-stage personalities is also a source of comic dissonance.
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- Frayn has continually rewritten the play over the years, the last time being in 2000 at the request of Jeremy Sams. There are numerous differences between the scripts published in 1982 and 2000. Some new sequences have been added; other sequences have been altered or cut entirely. References that tend to date the play have been eliminated or rewritten. HAmDramS used the 1982 version of the script for their performances on June 18th & 19th 2004.
- Quote of the Play: >
- Lloyd: "I'm just the one with the English Degree. I don't know anything."
