Noises Off [Paperback]

Michael Frayn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2002

Noises Off, the classic farce by the Tony Award—winning author of Copenhagen, is not one play but two: simultaneously a traditional sex farce, Nothing On, and the backstage “drama” that develops during Nothing On’s final rehearsal and tour. The two begin to interlock as the characters make their exits from Nothing On only to find themselves making entrances into the even worse nightmare going on backstage. In the end, at the disastrous final performance, the two plots can be kept separate no longer, and coalesce into a single collective nervous breakdown.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This extremely popular play-within-a-play by Tony Award winner Frayn has been newly revised for its Broadway revival. Because of its complexity, it is a demanding read. Acts 1 and 2 are actually the same act performed at different times in different theaters: the first presents the final night of rehearsals for Nothing's On, a sex farce, in which the director, seated in the audience, shouts direction to the actor on stage; the second is the same act but seen from backstage during a touring performance less than a month later. Act 2 is formatted in double columns, allowing the reader to follow the actor in character on stage and the same actor out of character off stage and the folly that he or she is involved with behind the scenes. Act 3 comprises the same cast performing another play, Noises On. Complex it is, and as clever and as concise as something this multileveled can be. Written by a man with a vision, this is recommended for academic and large public libraries. Elizabeth Stifter, Brooklyn, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Spectacularly funny . . . a peerless backstage comedy.” –Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“First-rate. . . . Clever and intricately crafted. . . . Sublime.” –The Boston Globe

“Ingenious. . . . Madcap.” –The Wall Street Journal

“A triumph. . . . An essential hysterical fix. . . . Masterly.” –The New York Observer

“[A] frisky, freewheeling sex comedy about actors in a frisky, freewheeling sex comedy.” –USA Today

“A comic masterpiece.” –Daily Telegraph

“Blissful fun.” –The New Yorker

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (August 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400031605
• ISBN-13: 978-1400031603
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #480,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933 and began his career as a journalist on the Guardian and the Observer. His novels include Towards the End of the Morning, The Trick of It and Landing on the Sun. Headlong (1999) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, while his most recent novel, Spies (2002), won the Whitbread Novel Award. His fifteen plays range from Noises Off to Copenhagen and most recently Afterlife.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely hilarious!, January 23, 2001

By 

Kristin S. (Vermont, U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Noises Off (Paperback)

It's such a shame that both the script and the movie are out of print. "Noises Off!" is the funniest comedy I have ever seen or read.

In "Noises Off!" a group of actors is preparing to stage a production of the smash farce "Nothing On." This is part of why this play is so funny: The play that the actors are butchering is hilarious in itself. All of the actors and stage hands are inept in their own unique way. They forget lines and stage directions, lose contact lenses and deal with a set that won't work right. In each act, at least one actor has it out for another. Flowers, bottles of alcohol and entirely too many sardines create havoc. Frayn reaches supreme physical and verbal comedy.

If you've seen it on stage, you know how funny it is (and how difficult to perform). But, the script contains hilarious "bios" of the actors that presumably appear in the playbill. And the side-by-side scripts of the second act (lines and directions for what is happening on stage and back stage) are really funny. This play is the funniest thing I've read!

Note about the movie: Unlike the movie, the play is not set in the U.S. Consequently, place names and terminology are sometimes confusing. And, the play ends differently than the movie.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Comedy, March 21, 2009

By 

Fiona Rix - See all my reviews

This review is from: Noises Off (Paperback)

This is one of my favorite comedies. It was a great movie and an even greater play. When our local drama group put it on a few years back,it was so successful that they had to continue its run for an extra week, which was unheard of. It is a brilliantly funny play and a standard for any drama group.I have seen it performed on the stage twice now and it never fails to amuse me. It is one of those plays that will be eternal.

It has a very English feel about it, which is not a bad thing, and it put me in mind of Alan Bates' 'Lust In The Dust', which is another English play, even though one of the main characters is American. That was an import also, from New Theatre Publications. Both plays are a must for the repertoire of any progressive Drama Society.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's About Doors and Sardines, Bags and Boxes, and Sheets., August 23, 2006

By 

tvtv3 "tvtv3" (Sorento, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Noises Off (Paperback)

NOISES OFF is the hilarious play within a play about a group of actors performing a touring edition of a British farce entitled NOTHING ON. The reader (and performers and audience members for that matter) are only allowed to see NOTHING ON from the first act. The first time they see it, it is the night of the dress rehearsal. The next time they see the act it is from behind the stage several weeks into the company's tour. The final act of the show is once again a performance of the first act of NOTHING ON, but seen from the front of the stage several weeks later. The hilarity involved ensues from the interactions of the performers and their relationships with each other. NOISES OFF displays that as funny as a play might be from the audience, sometimes it pares in comparison to the hilarity ensuing behind the scenes.