A FARCE about a farce; actors playing actors; two plates of sardines; eight entrances and exits; oodles of props and a communal bottle of whiskey!  Noises Off follows the on and off stage antics of a company performing a traditional sex farce, Nothing On. 

It opens with a stressful dress rehearsal and goes through to the fraught first night. 

Meanwhile backstage, the director is having affairs with both the leading lady and the stage manager, while the leading man is conducting a shaky romance with the supporting actress, who has a wandering eye. 

The sexual tension builds up backstage and, as emotions begin to run high, it isn’t long before the sex farce off-stage becomes inexorably entwined with the sex farce on-stage, causing much mayhem and hilarity. 

Such a complicated play is a directorial nightmare and could so easily have been a disaster. 

Instead, director Pat Tuffin and his hugely talented cast have turned it into a resounding success! 

Fast moving and slick, this is a comedy of errors where getting it wrong means getting it right. 

The cast did not falter and the audience were laughing in the aisles. 

The set was a bit wobbly at times, but isn’t that why we all loved Crossroads? 

Criticisms?  The tickets were too cheap for such good entertainment and the charming Duchess Theatre was only half full, which was a great shame. 

I enjoyed it so much I might well go again! 

Fiona Watson