This is the week Pitlochry Festival Theatre finally went back to its indoor stages for the first time since March 2020 – and what better way to celebrate than with one of the most well-known plays about theatre itself, Noises Off?
Michael Frayn’s Noises Off was first seen at the Lyric Hammersmith in London in 1982.
Comedy of chaos
It concerns a bunch of theatre-makers trying to take a naughty 1970s comedy named Nothing On out on tour.
Behind the scenes, a combination of haplessness, sexual affairs, and the general chaos of putting on a theatre show means the show descends into anarchy.
Director Lloyd Dallas (Marc Small) is a commanding boss, but he isn’t helping matters by having competing affairs with young actor Brooke Ashton (Rachael McAllister) and tense assistant stage manager Poppy (Meg Chaplin).
Meanwhile, leading man Garry Lejeune (Connor Going) and the experienced acting matriarch Dotty Otley (Deirdre Davis) are having a fling, until Garry is driven wild with jealousy by young actor Freddie Fellowes’ (Keith Jack) presence.
But wait, there’s more…
In the background, Belinda Blair (Alyson Orr) is the only actor not in some kind of triangle. Stage manager Tim (Richard Colvin) wanders around in a sleepless daze, and ageing thespian Selsdon Mowbray (Keith Macpherson) needs to be kept away from the booze.
Director Ben Occhipinti starts things off easy with a bit of rehearsal confusion about missed lines and the position onstage of a random plate of sardines, but when the live performances start, the ensuing mayhem is played at pleasingly slapstick speed.
Fun, set-piece gags
Beyond a bit of in-jokey fun about the chaotic nature of theatre, there’s no great message here.
It’s all an excuse for some satisfying set-piece gags, and there are real laugh-out-loud moments – the continued appearance of a different understudy burglar when a cue is accidentally repeated, for example.
If there’s one stand-out star, it’s Liz Cooke’s versatile set, which spins midway from ‘70s holiday cottage set to backstage area, so we see both sides of the action.
The play itself is dated in places, but where the best of the comedy comes together it’s still timeless.
Noises Off is at Pitlochry Festival Theatre until October 1.
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