NOISES OFF - COMING TO THE ARTS THEATRE
If farce is an art form, then surely ‘Noises Off’ is its Mona Lisa. I have always had a fondness for the genre: the physicality, the absurd plotting, the mistaken identities and the sheer pleasure of lightening exits and vicars hiding in cupboards sans trousers. I have been hooked since the days of Brian Rix and the Whitehall farces. But Michael Frayn’s madcap lunacy, written in the 1980s, is the best of the best. Speaking to one of the stars in the current production, Tracy-Ann Oberman, she reminded me that the play is the grand progenitor of hit shows like ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ - celebrating the sheer comedy of what happens when theatrical productions go horribly (but hilariously) awry. Let’s face it there is nothing funnier than to watch other people doing their jobs badly.
Heading towards Cambridge, the ‘Noises Off’ short tour has been a delight for Oberman. The acting ensemble indeed reads like a Who’s Who of British thespian talent. Speaking from her dressing room in Richmond (minutes before curtain up on the matinee), she told me that, ‘Working with Felicity Kendall is wonderful – who doesn’t love Felicity?’ It’s a question that needs no answer. She reiterated that doing the show was like being part of a precision clock with its frantic slapstick and split-second entrances (and hilarious exits). ‘I just love working on this show, with Felicity, Matthew (Kelly) and Jonathan Coy.’
She also treasured meeting the national treasure playwright Frayn in rehearsal. ‘He goes to see every production and feels that everyone has its own special differences while sticking closely to the precise script’. Though the farcical part Oberman is playing is hugely satisfying for her, it seems a far cry from her East Enders personal of Chrissy Watts. But she is a supremely talented actor who can glide effortlessly from high drama to high comedy. And you don’t get higher than ‘Noises Off’.
Michael Frayn’s ‘Noises Off’ will be at the Cambridge Arts Theatre Tuesday 25 September to Saturday 29 September.
All images: Nobby Clarke
