ACKNOWLEDGED as one of the funniest plays in the English language, Michael Frayn’s Noises Off is a masterpiece of the farceur’s art.
All the classic ingredients are there – men without trousers, nubile young women in their undies, doors by the dozen and sardines…
Lots and lots of sardines.
But what makes Noises Off such a side-achingly funny play is the sheer pace of the proceedings which is almost as exhausting to watch as it must be to perform.
A play about putting on a play, the first Act shows the final dress rehearsal of Nothing On – which is itself a farce, and allows Frayn to poke fun at the genre while indulging it.
But it is apparent from the outset that not all is well within the company, either in terms of professional competence or emotional stability.
By the second Act – which shows what is going on behind the scenes as the various players whip on and off the stage – huge cracks in the company take on an hilarious life of their own. And by the time the third Act showed the play disintegrate before their eyes, the audience at Chequer Mead were crying with laughter.
Masterpiece as this undoubtedly is, it is a brave company that takes on the sheer fast-paced ingenuity of the piece, where a single misplaced prop, a door opened a moment too soon, or a fluffed line could bring the whole preposterous confection down around the actors’ ears.
But East Grinstead Operatic Society proved they were up to the challenge in a riotously funny production which gained in momentum and hilarity with every passing minute.
Mikes Baker, as director Lloyd Dallas, was perfectly cast as the weary director trying – and largely failing – to get a performance out of his motley cast, while at the centre of what can only be described as a love triangle.
Jo Stephens made a delightfully dotty Dotty and how she kept tags on her many plates of sardines remains a mystery – probably even to her.
Garry Lejeune, in the hugely competent hands of James Klech, was simply hilarious – not least for his physical comedy, particularly in Act 2 where his murderous anger against a fellow thespian had necessarily to be acted out in silence so as not to disturb his colleagues on stage.
I think it would be fair to say that Amelia Zimmatore, as dim totty Brooke Ashton, was greatly appreciated by the male audience. Amelia’s lovely figure was shown off for most of the evening in black lace as she played the sulky young actress constantly derailed by the loss of her contact lenses.
And there is something very endearing about Robert Mitchell. I don’t doubt he could play an axe murderer if the part required it, but his “English ditherer” is perfection, and his descent into bloodied and utter confusion in Act 3 was a joy to behold.
Sarah Fisher played Flavia Brent, perhaps the one sane member of the cast, with kindly assurance as she tried – without any success at all – to bring the whole catastrophic production of Nothing On to some sort of conclusion as it disintegrated before her eyes – as plucky a display of ‘the show must go on’ as I have ever seen.
Colin White’s drunken burglar was a delight, and young Alaina Fountain, who played the love struck assistant stage manager Poppy, made a marvellous moment of announcing her pregnancy which earned her well deserved applause.
Quite how Steve Fisher managed to direct, and play Tim Allgood, the overworked stage manager is a mystery – but his was a double triumph on a night which had the whole audience swept along on a wave of merriment.
As Mayor Nick Hodges, who attended the first night, said afterwards, it was, quite simply, “brilliantly funny”.
