Steppenwolf’s “Noises Off” at the Geffen

The hilariously wild three-act play by English playwright Michael Frayn, Noises Off, is a famous slapstick comedy where everyone gets caught in the act. A co-production with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, this lively production is a joyfully out-of control version of this very British and ingeniously constructed farce. Now playing at the Geffen Playhouse until March 9, 2025.

Noises Off has been described as “the funniest (modern) farce ever written,” and “the classic farce.”  A well-crafted comedy, it is a highly influential work, possibly inspiring The Play That Goes Wrong series.  Here’s some history of the genre of farce.

The story merges backstage with onstage mayhem. In a provincial English town, an eccentric group of second-rate stage actors is rehearsing a touring production of a sex comedy, Nothing On. Unfortunately, almost nothing is going right – the cast can’t remember their lines or their cues, they mix up their blocking, constantly misplace props, and they’ve lost sight of why they’re doing it at all.

The chaos comedically snowballs both backstage and in front of the crowd as the personal and professional interplay between these incompetent performers spirals out of control.

First staged in 1982, Noises Off premiered at the Lyric Theatre, in Hammersmith, London. It opened to universally ecstatic reviews and shortly after transferred to the West End’s Savoy Theatre, where it ran until 1987 with five successive casts.

According to wikipedia, the idea for it was born in 1970, when playwright Michael 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.” The prototype, a short-lived one-act play entitled Exits, was written and performed in 1977. Reportedly at the request of theater producer Michael Codron, Frayn expanded his one-act play into what became Noises Off.

What’s remarkable about this show is that we basically watch the same scenes from the beginning of the play-with-a-play three times. During Act One we see the hapless cast rehearsing their play that is due to open the next night, as they all head on tour around the country. Frustratingly for the temperamental director Lloyd Dallas (played expertly by Rick Holmes), no one seems to understand that this is the dress rehearsal (meaning the final rehearsal before curtain up) and not the technical rehearsal. Hilariously, the muddled actors are still forgetting their lines and entrances and everyone’s tempers are beginning to fray.

For Act Two the set has been reversed and now we, the audience, are backstage, along with the cast, for the same Act we previously saw being rehearsed. By now the play has dissolved into a shambles with missed cues and fluffed entrances. Trousers and skirts keep falling down and plates of sardines keep getting thrown about.

In Act Three, the cast and production are now well into their touring season and the set has been reversed once again. Now we are the unlucky ‘new’ audience for the performance that further unravels before our very eyes.

A well-staged farce requires a tremendous amount of skill from the cast. There are split-second entrances and exits, lots of slamming doors, gags with props, people’s trousers falling down at inappropriate moments and plenty of pratfalls. Frayn’s side-splitting play provides all this and more. By incorporating all the backstage shenanigans, love triangles and so forth, the comedy is cranked to its fullest potential. As the fictional tour wears on, so does a crescendo of sexual jealousies and in-fighting amongst the cast.

The cast all do a fantastic job with this demanding play. The British accents are decent across the board, not only when the actors are in character and also when they are playing themselves, and the play proceeds at a cracking pace.

While some of the pratfalls were a bit weak, David Lind shines with his standout performance as the belligerent cockney Garry, especially when brilliantly executing a comic tumble down the stairs.

American-born Ora Jones is especially brilliant as Mrs. Clackett, delivering two authentic-sounding and broad British accents; one when she playing the stage role of the Cockney housemaid Mrs. Clackett – aka Dotty – and the other accent when she drops into her “natural” voice as the actor rehearsing the part. Impressive! The over-burdened and understaffed tech crew characters—the long-suffering stage manager Poppy (a fantastic performance from Vaneh Assadourian) and poor overworked Tim as the dogsbody tech assistant/understudy (played well by Max Stewart)—get the most laughs and sympathy as they bumble around the stage.

Despite a loss of buoyancy towards the end, Noises Off is a rollicking night in the theatre and should not be missed.

Noises Off

Now playing at the Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse

10886 Le Conte Avenue, Westwood, CA 90024

Written by Michael Frayn

Directed by Anna D. Shapiro

A co-production with Steppenwolf Theatre Company featuring Vaneh Assadourian, Amanda Fink, Audrey Francis, Francis Guinan, Rick Holmes, Ora Jones, David Lind, James Vincent Meredith and Max Stewart.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Monday, Tuesday: No performance

Wednesday – Friday: 8:00 p.m.

Saturday: 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.

SundayL 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.

RUNTIME: 90 minutes, no intermission

All Geffen Playhouse productions are intended for an adult audience; children under 10 years of age will not be admitted.

Although not required, we encourage masks for audience members for the health and well-being of our artist(s).

TICKET INFORMATION:

Tickets currently priced at $41.00 – $155.00. Available by phone at 310.208.2028 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Fees may apply.