*ABOUT THE PLAY*

Noises Off is a classic in the modern canon of comedic dramatic plays. It is, at its most basic theatrical function, a sexual romp and a door farce. It is slapstick in the tradition of Moliere and a sexual parody of misidentity with roots in and direct allusions from the twinning comedies of Shakespeare. In structure, by including the elaborate device of Nothing On, Frayn applies a play within a play in a comedic fashion similar to the Bard’s application for tragic function within Hamlet. But deeper in its text and unusual reversal of setting is an adept and focused satire of the lives of those who love the theatre itself, stylistically rooted in the traditions of Menander and Aristophanes and presented in the trappings of English pantomime and burlesque.

In approaching this production of Frayn’s work, we have chosen to minimize the set and prop focus of many other interpretations to highlight instead the wit of circumstance, misdirection, and character in Frayn’s dialogue and character work. Beneath the mask of all great theatre is the wish to be something we are not, to aspire to things perhaps beyond our grasp and beyond our true need or practical desire. Frequently, Frayn presents the idea of characters who are not “here,” those who are not what he or she initially seem to be, who appear to an audience to be two things simultaneously, as does the play itself. In fact, in this use of masking, these characters ultimately reveal more than they wish they might have been to begin with. Nothing is quite what it seems, and yet in this layering of falsity, this mockery of two-facedness, a deeper comedic truth shines through: as actors or as roles, these characters struggle to complete what they have committed to do. Like real life, despite all private misguided misgivings, the show must and does go on.

Frayn presents the artifice of “play” to discover only by continual accident and miscomprehension the reality beneath the glitter. Art thus reflects simple truths:  Be who you are, push forward despite all obstacles, and with the support of those who may appear to be both lovers and enemies at times, we all must reach a simple and common goal. Despite doors and sardines and all else we do or are confronted with as individuals, when we recognize and rely on those who struggle along with us, all’s well that ends well. So for tonight, please sit back, put your feet up as it were, and enjoy the ride.

W. DAVID WILKINS DIRECTOR