THEATRE NEWS

WAY back in 1970, the British public faced an array of challenges. Ted Heath sailed in as Prime Minister, strikes were rife, and the Beatles flicked each other V signs, the band’s internal strife seemingly worse than that of Harold Wilson’s government.

But, unknown to you and me, curious playwright Michael Frayn was watching from the wings a production of his farce. The Two of Us starred Richard Briers and Lynn Redgrave at the Garrick Theatre and Frayn realised that seeing the actors dashing between the different doors backstage was all far funnier from behind than it was out front.

He grasped that the thin line between order and chaos in the theatre was ripe for exploration. And exploitation.

And so, in his mind at least, the journey to write what would become the classic Noises Off began. Noises Off (a theatrical term meaning distracting sounds in a stage production that are not supposed to be there) chronicles the hilarious slapstick capers of a touring theatre company as they stumble along, from rehearsals to opening night, through a farcical fictitious play called Nothing On.

As we know, theatre doesn’t always run with the smooth efficiency of a Porsche. Sometimes it’s an old Skoda, that leaks oil from the sump and barely gets you home. But that can prove exciting too, can’t it?

But it’s not all about slapstick, pratfalls and doors slamming into faces. The play cleverly parodies the fragility of the acting profession, those desperate to be loved, or even to be taken seriously. And if you think that Frayn’s concept, which premiered at the Lyric in Hammersmith in 1982, may appear dated just look at the success of its successor, the quite brilliant The Play That Goes Wrong, and its offspring.

The timing in bringing Noises Off back 40 years on is just about perfect.

Noises Off, Pitlochry Festival Theatre May 27-October 1.