I’m on holiday, and so I’m using this as an excuse for not doing any blogs recently! I have been in Washington followed by London for the Queen’s Jubilee.
Whilst I was in London we caught up with family friends and of course we went to the West Ends smash hit of Noises Off which is currently at the Novello Theatre.
I have to say before anything else the Novello is an amazing theatre so if you like buildings and obviously theatres definitely worth checking this one out.
Bit of a back story first, Noises Off is 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.” And that’s how it was born.
Going into the play with the family I didn’t even know what it was about, partly my fault by not listening to my father and research in beforehand. However finding out that Robert Glenister was in it nearly blew me away as I’m a big Hustle fan!
Anyway enough about that, I thought the whole thing was hilarious, amazing, stressful and beautifully put together, oh and did I mention exhausting as well?
First and third acts were my favourite, act two although very clever my slow brain just couldn’t cope with trying to keep up with what was going on as it was a rerun of act one but in reverse however you may find it different. Act three came as a surprise to me as I thought it finished at act two. By this stage pun not intended I cannot help but wonder how on earth they are remembering their lines, okay they’re running the same show but in a completely different order – truly clever and must have taken lots of practice.
To sum up I felt exhausted afterwards and ready for bed which is probably down to laughing so much and the emotional drain of trying to keep up with what’s going on! So if you are in London before the end of this month as I believe it finishes soon definitely check it out.
Oh and don’t forget the sardines!!
My Rating: 9.5/10
Author: Michael Frayn
Director: Lindsay Posner
Designer: Peter McKintosh
Cast: Janie Dee, Robert Glenister, Celia Imrie, Jonathan Coy, Karl Johnson, Aisling Loftus, Amy Nuttall, Paul Ready