Noises Off

Noises Off
Poster for the 2001 Broadway revival
Written byMichael Frayn
CharactersGarry Lejeune
Dotty Otley
Lloyd Dallas
Belinda Blair
Frederick Fellowes
Brooke Ashton
Tim Allgood
Selsdon Mowbray
Poppy Norton-Taylor
Date premiered1982
Place premieredLyric Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
SubjectPlay within a play
GenreComedy

Noises Off is a 1982 farce by the English playwright Michael Frayn.

Frayn conceived the idea in 1970 while watching from the wings a performance of The Two of Us, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. He said, "It was funnier from behind than in front, and I thought that one day I must write a farce from behind."[1] The prototype, a short-lived one-act play called Exits, was written and performed in 1977. At the request of his associate, Michael Codron, Frayn expanded this into what would become Noises Off. It takes its title from the theatrical stage direction indicating sounds coming from offstage.

  1. ^ Mehlman, Barbara K. "A CurtainUp Review". CurtainUp. Retrieved 18 September 2013.