Review: Noises Off, The Questors Theatre 

Michael Frayn’s much-loved Noises Off, often revised and revived, has been around for pretty much forever. It’s a play-within-a-play, specifically farce-within-a-farce, structure that reveals the theatrics behind theatre. But does it still (and did it ever) properly work?   

In her programme notes, director Pam Redrup says she told the actors to “trust the situation, play it truthfully and the comedy will take care of itself”. But it doesn’t take care of itself. Because this play, although it has the makings of an absurd and uproarious spectacle, isn’t actually that funny. Don’t get me wrong, there’s the odd corker of a joke, but it lacks an integral playfulness.  

The opening is promising. We’re given a glimpse into a stop-start last minute rehearsal where everything seems to be going wrong. A voice booms from the seat behind us in the audience. A bit early for heckling, I think to myself. But it’s the show’s director Lloyd Dallas (played by Willo Johnston), cutting an exasperated figure as a telephone and plate of sardines are misplaced on stage. As the rest of the hapless cast make their entrances, we’re presented with some familiar stereotypes. There’s the bullish director, the overworked stage manager, the actor who questions every line, the perpetually drunk thespian and so on…   

However, the most striking thing about The Questors’ production is the set, designed by Alex Marker. The play-within-a-play, entitled Nothing On, is set in a posh house where a range of characters who aren’t meant to be there narrowly avoid bumping into one another. Part of the fun of this is that all the doors in the house are made to look exactly the same, so we never quite know where each character is until they suddenly emerge from one of the rooms. It’s a simplistic touch, but one which adds intrigue to some otherwise quite predictable sequences. The second act is set backstage so equal attention to detail has gone into making that set look presentable and skilfully realistic.     

This second act is the strongest by some distance as we see the silent turmoils of the Nothing On actors during a performance. But the humour, on the whole, feels forced. Whether it’s Lloyd’s tediously overwritten sarcasm, or the fact that a largely inconsequential prop is missing, one can’t help but feel that Frayn is trying to show off more than he is trying to entertain.  

This feels like the sort of play where the less you obey its conventions and the writer’s ultra-specific vision, the more you’ll get out of it. This is a production that needs to pick its moments – maybe even ad-lib a bit. Instead, it tries too hard to adhere to Frayn’s efforts to mould farce with intellectualism.  

Admittedly, a lot of my critique is of the writing itself, but there is also a missing energy and physicality in this rendition. When you go to see a farce, you want to believe that the actors are internally wetting themselves with laughter, but one doesn’t get that impression here. There are certainly no bad performances, just a general lack of vigour at times.  

This play is 45 years old and it shows. Frayn’s innovation paved the way for a generation of metatheatrical farce, but it does nothing that, say, The Play That Goes Wrong doesn’t do a hundred times better. No one involved at The Questors should walk away from this with their heads hung low, and some of the audience did find it genuinely hilarious. As a play though, it might just be time we turned the lights out on Noises Off.      

Written by: Michael Frayn 
Directed by: Pam Redrup 
Associate Director: Joanna Mludzinska  
Set Designer: Alex Marker  
Costume Designer: Jenny Richardson  
Lighting Designer: Alasdair Graebner  

Noises Off plays at The Questors Theatre until Saturday 3 October.