FANS of hilarious British theatre will not want to miss a new production of Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s classic comedy, which opens at the A Noise Within repertory theatre in Pasadena on Saturday, April 21st, and will run through May 20th.
Noises Off, directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, pays tribute to the art of theatre-making itself as chaos reigns onstage and off. Born in London, playwright Frayn cut his teeth as a reporter for the Guardian and the Observer before moving onto novels and plays in the 1970s, and was inspired with the idea for Noises Off in 1970, when he was watching from the wings a performance of the farce The Two of Us, which he had written for Lynn Redgrave and Richard Briers. Frayn said, “It was funnier from behind than in front and I thought that one day I must write a farce from behind.”
The play had its premier at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith in 1982, directed by Michael Blakemore and starring Patricia Routledge, Paul Eddington, and Nicky Henson. It opened to universally ecstatic reviews from audiences and critics. The play would go on to win the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Play and the 1982 London Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy. Since then it has continued to play to delighted audiences around the world, managing to strike a universal chord with its story about actors struggling to put on a perfect show.
Frayn said of his creation’s enduring success, “I think it’s connected to the fear we all have inside ourselves that we might be unable to go on with the performance… We all feel we might break down – and sometimes we do. So when we see it happening to those idiots on the stage in a farce, it’s a release of the tension.”
Single ticket prices for Noises Off start at $25.00. Contact the A Noise Within box office in person, via phone at 626-356-3121, or online at www.ANoiseWithin.org for updated pricing and seat availability. The theatre is located at 3352 East Foothill Boulevard in Pasadena.
