Review - Noises Off (From Stroud News and Journal)

Review - Noises Off

Noises Off by Michael Frayn Cotswold Players Monday October 18

Michael Frayn's farce about a farce, Noises Off, has a double whammy of difficulties for amateur companies.

First of all it is a farce which are always tough for amateurs who are rarely able to maintain the pace and timing required.

Secondly it demands a two-tier set that must rotate 180 degrees. All credit to Cotswold Players who took up these challenges at The Playhouse and gave such a splendid evening's entertainment.

The play is about a professional touring company putting on a farce 'Nothing On'. We see them at their dress rehearsal and then half way through the tour and again at the end of the tour.

The first and third act are viewed as the audience would see them but the second act we are taken backstage and view the performance from behind the scenes. It was this second act where the Players really came into their own with superb timing and miming as the characters clash backstage between frantic exits and entrances.

It would be churlish to single out any one performance, as this play demands superb teamwork and ensemble playing. Mention should be made of Tony Free's ascent of the stairs with his trousers around his ankles and Andrew Milne's headlong fall down the whole flight of stairs both of which received a huge round of applause from a delighted audience.

Rod Clifford's superb set worked perfectly and, together with John Knowles confident direction, the Players produced a play of which they can be proud.