Noises Off: A Hilarious Backstage Comedy by Michael Frayn
Noises Off, a comedic play by Michael Frayn, explores the chaos that unfolds backstage during a regional tour of a British farce. As tensions rise and relationships unravel, the actors struggle to keep the show together, leading to hilarious mishaps, personal drama, and a disastrous yet entertaining series of events. With themes of betrayal, jealousy, and sardine-related mishaps, Noises Off provides a side-splitting look at the mayhem that can occur behind the scenes.
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Presentation Transcript
Noises Off Playwright: Michael Frayn Maddie, Paxton, Garrett, Alexa
Basic Information Noises Off is a comedic play written by Michael Frayn, who wrote it with the basic explanation that sometimes, being backstage can be more fun or interesting than it is on stage This play was performed for the first time on February 23, 1982
Plot synopsis (act 1) rehearsal late night at the grand theatre for the regional tour of the new British farce, Nothing On. Tension between actors and stage directors is running high. Lloyd Dallas, the director has the main concern that his leading actress, Dotty is suddenly forgetting all her lines and blocking. As the rehearsal goes on we find out more about the relationships between the actors and actresses which eventually leads to tears, arguments, sickness and nose bleeds before they even reach the end of their act 1 run through. The play begins during the final dress
Plot Synopsis (act 2) now up and running as the cast is about to perform a matinee show. In this act the action takes place backstage where we find even more affairs, fights, tears (etc.) than we did in act 1. Threats of leaving are made by actors, props are misplaces, pranks are played, and the performance is a mess. We end this act with Dotty revealing to Lloyd that she is pregnant. Set a month later the play, Nothing On, is
Plot Synopsis (act 3) and is about to be performed at the Municipal Theatre. This is when the fun begins to happen, they can t get the play going on time, much less figure out how many minutes they said were left until the show started. The show beings and lines are lost, blocking is confused, the act becomes horrible. Towards the end, however, under Lloyd the cast manages to carry the play towards a sort of happy ending Nothing On is now ending it s 10 week tour
Inciting Incident Dotty (Mrs.Clackett) messes up her line for the first time in the first act of the play inside the play
Climax At the end of their 10 week run its show time and all the actors in the play begin to crumble under their own personal stress causing them to begin adlibbing and messing up in front of their live audience
Major Issues Betrayal Alcohol Jealousy Misuse and misplacement of sardines
Theme The drama of real life can interfere with the drama in theatre (an act) if you aren t careful
Characters Tim Allgood- stage manager for Nothing On, Freddy s double in a scene and the understudy for all male roles. He is incredibly tired and overworked. Brooke Ashton- relatively new to acting, appears in Nothing On as a tax collector, Vicki. She ends up being stuck in a love triangle with Lloyd and Poppy
Characters (cont) Belinda Blair- a former dancer, a successful actress, and plays the role of Flavia Brent in Nothing On. She is the most supportive towards her fellow actors about their personal problems. Lloyd Dallas- director of Nothing On, seems to be always tired and despirate to get things done. Is part of the love triangle with Poppy and Brooke.
Characters (cont x2) Fredrick Fellowes- a seasoned actor best known for his TV hospital dramas, plays the roles of Phillip Brent and the Sheikh in Nothing On. Comes across as very nervous in general. Garry Lejeune- fairly-known actor and is the estate agent, Roger Tramplemain in Nothing On. He has a secret relationship with Dotty. He is very positive and tries to bring people up.
Characters (x3) Selsdon Mowbray- an elderly shakespearean actor and plays the role of a burglar in Nothing On. He s unfocused and a drunk. Poppy Norton-Taylor- assistant stage manager and understudy for all female roles in Nothing On. She is very open to relationships with various men in this play Dotty Otley- the leading actress playing Mrs.Clackett in Nothing On. Very clumsy and forgetful.
Protagonist Lloyd. All he really wants to do is put on a good show but his actors won t cooperate with him. The protagonist in this play is the director,
Antagonist very forgetful which causes blocking and lines to be messed up. This affects not only the other actors, but the show of our protagonist, Lloyd. The antagonist of this play is Dotty. She is
Setting The set of the livingroom of the Brent s country home in the play within Noises off and the backstage area wednesday afternoons (3 different theatres) in the months of January (the 14th), February (the 13th) and April (the 6th)
Vocabulary Sheikh- (in Islamic countries) the patriarch of a tribe or family; chief Pigeonhouse- A compartmental structure, often raised on a pole, for housing domesticated pigeons Parcel- a thing or collection of things wrapped in paper in order to be carried or sent
Vocabulary (cont.) Bric-a-brac- miscellaneous objects and ornaments of little value Mezzanine- a low story between two others in a building, typically between the ground and first floors. Posset- a British hot drink of milk curdled with wine or ale, often spiced, which was popular from medieval times to the 19th century
Vocab (cont x2) Prospective tenant- landlord that can collect taxes and release background checks to new landlords VAT- value-added tax is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the value added to a product, material, or service, from an accounting point of view, by this stage of its manufacture or distribution.
Vocab (contx3) Airing cupboard- a storage space, sometimes of walk-in dimensions, containing a water heater; either an immersion heater for hot running water or a boiler for central heating water Ballcocks- a valve that automatically fills a tank after liquid has been drawn from it. Used, for example, in a flush toilet, a ballcock has a float on the end of a pivoting arm that opens the valve when the arm drops.
References Stockon-on-tees a market in North East England a large town that houses a lot of smaller towns Peebles- an area in South East Scotland including the upper course of the Tweed
What we liked We really enjoyed the comedic aspects of the play along with the characters that were brought more and more to life as the plot went on. We also like the confusion that came along with the play inside a play aspect.
What we didnt like times between what parts were part of the actual play or what was part of the play within this play. We feel like this play would be a lot better to watch than it was to read it. We didn t like how we got lost multiple
Recommend teacher that could use in in a theatrical environment. It shows the characteristics of being both on and off stage at a performance. It has many critical points of putting together an act that are shown in the preparation of the play within the play. we would recommend this play to any
Mrs. Clacketts Monologue Performed by Garrett Pages 14-15
