ARCHIVE - PAST EVENT

By Michael Frayn

Fine performances across the board… went down a storm with the audience… the sets are things of highly detailed beauty (indeed, they draw applause), which only confirms one’s sense that Noises Off is the perfect play for PFT.
Mark Brown, The Herald

Brilliantly executed artifice
Mark Fisher, The Guardian

Looking for a recipe for disaster? Try this. Take one tired old sex farce called Nothing On. Add one group of volatile, ill-matched thespians; a perpetually put-upon Assistant Stage Manager; a sleep-deprived techie; and a director who knows a turkey when he sees it – and how to stuff it. Mix well, place on a set that defies the laws of physics, then send it out on a twelve week shoestring tour of some of Britain’s less salubrious theatrical venues . . .

Disaster looms at the final dress rehearsal of Nothing On. Dotty can’t remember a word, Freddie’s not happy about his motivation and no one knows where the plates of sardines end up. It’s nearing midnight and they’re still only on Act 1. It can’t get any worse – can it? In a word: yes. One month on and the personal relationships backstage are threatening to cause even more havoc than the nightly shambles onstage. Managing two separate love triangles and dear old Selsdon’s dipsomania is stretching director Lloyd’s admittedly limited talents to breaking point. If they make it to the end of the show, it’ll be a miracle . . .

And then, at the final, climactic performance, just when the cast thought their nightmare was about to end, every single thing that can go wrong, does – prompting a final, frantic, feverish attempt to put matters right . . .

Noises Off is, quite simply, the funniest play you will ever see. Award-laden, with a five year run in the West End to its name, this brilliant, irresistible farce is a must-see this season!

A night of sheer lunacy which cannot fail to have patrons sore with laughter.
Peter Cargill, The Stage