Noises Off

During exam term everyone could do with a couple of laughs and The Tab can think of no better way than treating yourself to a ticket to Michael Frayn’s Noises Off.

Hilarious from the get go, it insights raucous, uncontrollable, belly laughs throughout.

Scene one takes the audience through the infuriating process of a technical run through. With the words ‘darling’, ‘love’, and ‘dear’ used more times than you can count it feels like an oddly accurate representation of people you may know in ‘the biz’.

From the gossip Queen, Belinda Blair played by Sasha Waddell, to the man who never finishes a sentence, Garry played by David Bark-Jones, anyone who has dabbled in the arts can relate.

After the interval we are treated to a fast-paced back stage view of the performance a few weeks into the tour. This is mostly done in silence, leaving the audience not knowing where to look, but the slap-stick style is at it’s best here.

Back stage of ‘Nothing On’

After 2 hours of belly laughs the audience starts to tire. The final part, their last show of the tour, is very cleverly worked to tie up all of the loose ends, but after two exhausting scenes it was just too much for The Tab.

This show is a marathon of laughs and not a sprint, and definitely not one to see on an empty stomach. Despite this there is no doubt that Noises Off will fill theatres for the entirety of it’s tour.