Noises Off’s approach to comedy is like Keith Richard’s approach to drug use — pure unbridled excess with not a single hint of shame. Paradoxically, that ends up being the play’s greatest strength and its biggest vice. It is beyond the shadow of a doubt a comedic piece, with all notions of realism and sadness melting away like an ice cream cone left in the rain.
If whimsical farce is your cup of tea then Noises Off certainly provides, but if you’re like me and you enjoy a tinge of darkness and sympathy with your laughs then you might find the play lacking.
Part of it I feel however, is its legacy. Noises Off was a smash hit back in it’s 1982 debut, running until 1987, having run 553 performances. Ten years down the line however, the poorly received feature film adaptation was created which probably helped push the work from its classic status, to merely acceptable.
This is a play that demands to be seen live, on stage, with all the shenanigans happening in the moment. Simply reading the play or watching the forgettable movie destroys the piece. That, in conjunction with my general distaste of the genre left me wanting more from Noises Off.
The plot in layman’s terms is about a play within a play, seen entirely from the back, where we see the actors, the director, and everyone else involved. The play itself is lackluster, the actors forget their lines, the director’s a temperamental jerk, there’s a nasty love triangle going on, and it all continues to go down hill until every line of dialogue is improvised, ironically making for much more entertaining performance. Noises Off is a polarizing piece of art and if it must be experienced it must be live — it is far too theatrical to be captured in words.