ABOUT THE SHOW

Michael Frayn’s comedy is the classic show-within-a-show. The Opening Night performance of the farce Nothing On is just hours away, and as the cast stumbles through their final dress rehearsal, things couldn't be going any worse. With lines being forgotten, love triangles unraveling and sardines flying everywhere, it’s complete pandemonium… and we haven’t even reached intermission! Can the cast pull their act together on the stage even if they can't behind the scenes?

Trivia

• The play takes its title from the theatrical stage direction indicating sounds emanating from offstage.
• Frayn has said that the idea for the play came to him while standing in the wings watching a performance of his Two of Us, a collection of one-acts including a farce written for Lynn Redgrave. He considered the frantic backstage activity funnier than the play itself, and thus the idea for Noises Off was hatched.

History

Noises Off premiered in London in 1982, and was staged on Broadway the following year. The comedy was previously revived on Broadway in 2001. Peter Bogdanovich directed a 1992 film version of the play.