Noises Off - A Ridiculous, Riotous, Romp

True farce is defined by ludicrous situations, stereotyped characters, extravagant exaggeration - not to mention hilarious horseplay.

Author Michael’s Frayn’s 40th anniversary of the multi award-winning farce, Noises Off ticks all the boxes as ‘the play within a play’ deteriorates from the ridiculous to the utterly shambolic.

A relatively slow start sees the beleaguered performers on their tour of Nothing On woefully under prepared during its final rehearsal at Weston-Super-Mare.

From the outset the audience is under no illusion that ‘it will be all right on the night’ as housekeeper Dotty Otley, played by Liza Goddard, beautifully lives up to her stage name.

Interrupted frequently by Simon Shepherd as director Lloyd Dallas, she constantly forgets her plates of sardines, an all-encompassing theme, at the house she looks after while its tax exile owners are in Spain.

The pace picks up as estate agent Garry Lejeune (Dan Fredenburgh) and his scantily clad assistant Vicki (Brooke Ashton) descend on the house at the same time as owners Philip and Flavia Brent play a flying visit to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

Throw into the mix Matthew Kelly as Selsdon Mowbray, an aging actor more than fond of a tipple who consistently forgets his entrance and requires regular prompting by Nikhita Lesler playing Poppy Norton-Taylor.

The turmoil accelerates in the cast’s Ashton-Under-Lyne matinee – witnessed by the audience from backstage – where performers unsuccessfully try to hide bottles of whisky from Selsdon Mowbray.

Staggering, literally, to its final show and ultimate demise at Stockton-Upon-Tees, the performers, director and understudy have completely lost the plot and are high as kites on scotch.

Their lines are replaced by nonsensical and highly entertaining improvisation as they hurl themselves up and down stairs and in and out of doors and windows with breathless, breakneck speed.

Doomed before the curtain rises, this raucous racket dishes up a delicious hat trick of fabulous failures, imbuing warmth and laughter into a chilly autumn evening.