Noises
Off
By Michael Frayn
Directed by Chrisjohn Hancock
By
special arrangement with Dominie Pty Ltd
March 2008
Michael Frayn was born in September 1933 and is an English
playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce
Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy.
His novels, such as Towards the End of Morning, Headlong
and Spies, have also been critical and commercial successes,
making him one of the handful of writers in the English language to
succeed in both drama and prose fiction. His works often raise philosophical
questions in a humorous context.
He is now considered
to be Britain's finest translator of Anton Chekhov - adapting the four major plays, The Seagull,
Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard as well
as an early untitled work, which he titled Wild Honey.
The idea for Noises
Off was born in 1970 , when Frayn was standing in the wings watching
Chinamen, one of his earlier plays being performed. He thought
that it was funnier from behind than in front and decided to write a
farce from behind.
In theatrical stage
directions, the term “noises off” specifies sounds that are meant to
be heard from offstage.
The premier of Noises
Off in 1982 starred Patricia
Routledge, Paul Eddington and Nicky Henson. After transfering to the
West End it ran until 1987 with five successive casts. In 1982 it won
the Evening Standard Award and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
Noises
Off was first presented by arrangement with
Michael Codron at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, on 23rd February 1982
Cast
| Dotty
Otley |
|
Fiona
Churchill |
| Lloyd
Dallas |
|
Brian
Hill |
| Garry
Lejeune |
|
Terry
Phillips |
| Brooke
Ashton |
|
Erin
Williams |
Poppy Norton- Taylor |
|
Heather
Edwards |
| Frederick
Fellowes |
|
David
Rayner |
| Belinda
Blair |
|
Sally
Bradley |
| Selsdon
Mowbray |
|
Bruce
Gerard |
| Tim
Allgood |
|
Shane
Daly |
The cast of Noises Off are
performing a play called Nothing On, an extract of the programme
of which follows
Synopsis of Scenes
ACT 1
The living room
of the Brents’ country home.
Wednesday afternoon
(Grand Theatre, Weston-Super-Mare, Monday, January
14th)
There
will be an interval of 20 minutes
during which refreshments will be on sale in the foyer
ACT 2
The living room
of the Brents’ country home.
Wednesday afternoon
(Theatre Royal, Goole, Wednesday
matinee, February 13th)
There
will be an interval of 5 minutes
during which refreshments will
be on sale in the auditorium
ACT 3
The living room
of the Brents’ country home.
Wednesday afternoon
(Municipal Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees,
Saturday, April 6th)
Credits
| Stage manager |
|
Martin Yeadon |
| Assistant stage manager |
|
Emily Bradley |
| Set Construction |
|
Martin Yeadon, Colin Simson, John Hartnett, John Knops, Chrisjohn Hancock,
Bill Wilson |
| Wardrobe |
|
Pauline J Mullen |
| Assisted by |
|
Jen Nell |
| Props |
|
Erin Williams, Heather Edwards & the cast |
| Tickets |
|
Doreen Mullen |
| Lights rigging |
|
Shane Daly, James McPaul |
| Lights operated by |
|
James McPaul |
| Sound recorded by |
|
Peter McLaren |
| Sound operated by |
|
Andrew Rayner |
| Scenic painting |
|
Lee Gray, Chrisjohn Hancock |
| Prompt |
|
Jo Dorman, Emily Bradley, Lachlan Edwards |
| Front of House Management |
|
Lee Gray, Colin Simson |
| Photographs |
|
Craig Edwards |
| Newsletter Editor |
|
Greg Seckold |
| Raffle |
|
Doreen Mullen, Rose Hill, Janette |
The Lieder would
like to thank
Michael Connolly Chemmart for
taking advance bookings, and all those who have loaned costumes, props
and assisted on this production.
The Real CAST
Sally Bradley – Belinda/ Flavia
Sally lives
and works in Canberra. She began
at the Lieder as a teenager in John Spicer’s production of The
Children’s Hour and returned a few years later playing roles
in many others including Tom Jones, Private Lives, The Corn is
Green, Ladies in Retirement and Dark of the Moon.
For Chrisjohn Hancock Sally has performed in Dancing at Lughnasa
and Skirmishes. Together Sally and Chrisjohn performed
in Stan Henderson’s 1996 pantomime Humpty Dumpty. In 1997
Sally toured to Bowral Shakespeare Festival with the Lieder in I
Propose. We are most grateful to Sally for her support of the
Lieder and her enthusiasm to travel to be in our production of Noises
Off.
Fiona Churchill – Dotty / Mrs Clackett
Fiona
joined the Lieder in 1995 to play in Golden Valley and since then has been seen in many productions including the Farndale Murder Mystery, Oliver,
Hamlet, Blackrock, Under Milk Wood, Cosi, The Removalists and On the Bridge,
Habeas
Corpus Sylvia, The Vagina Monologues, Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean,
Jimmy Dean, Minefields and Miniskirts, Inheritance, Blithe Spirit, The Odd Couple (female version), Fireface, Round and
Round the Garden, Aladdin The Memory of Water and Equus. Fiona has also worked as a lighting operator
and is currently coordinating charity nights for the mainstage.
Shane Daly
– Tim the stage manager
Shane has been attending Judith Boyd’s
after school drama classes at the Lieder for a number of years. Last
year he stage managed and performed in Equus, stage managed
The Cripple of Inishmaan and operated sound for our Christmas
production of Footrot Flats.
This year he was one of eight stage managers in our spectacular
Blues Festival fire show Firesong. His understanding of
the role of a stage manager has helped him appreciate the character
of Tim in Noises Off maybe more than he realises. We hope
he will stay on with the Company for many more shows.
Heather Edwards – Poppy the ASM
Heather was last on stage at the Lieder
in Blithe Spirit directed by Stan Henderson before heading
to Tasmania for a while
but now she is back. In 2004 Heather performed in Away, the world premiere
production of The Ballad of Mary Ann Brownlow, so
successful it is to be revived for the third time this year, Come Back to the Five and Dime
Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and the rehearsed reading of Minefields
and Miniskirts. In 2002 Heather played in our comedy production
of Habeas
Corpus, and in 2001 she performed in Dracula and Oliver
Twist. Her previous roles at the Lieder include the Mouse with
the Long tail in Alice in Wonderland, a lovely collection of Welsh women in our
1999 production of Under Milkwood, and Thelma in Stan Henderson’s hilarious production
of The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society
murder Mystery – Murder at Checkmate Manor.
Bruce Gerard
– Selsdon / The Burglar
Bruce was last seen on stage at the
Lieder in Judith Boyd’s impressive production of Equus
last year. Before that he has played in Habeas Corpus, La dispute,
Under Milkwood, Inheritance, Humpty Dumpty, Hamlet and A
Month of Sunday. For the Argyle Society Bruce has performed
in The Merry Widow, Trial by Jury, Sweethearts, and Pirates
of Penzance.
Brian Hill – Lloyd the Director
Brian returned to Goulburn in 2003
after a long absence living in Sydney and immediately became involved in the Company’s work assisting on
the production of A Month of Sundays and Forks’n
All. Brian was last seen on the Lieder mainstage in The
Tempest and before that Treasure
Island, Inheritance Babes in the Wood and
Old Time Music Hall. He also performed in our 2005 foyer production of Fireface.
David Rayner
– Frederick / Phillip
David made his debut on stage at the
age of nine in the Rockhampton Little Theatre’s Wizard of Oz. He subsequently appeared
on the small screen (briefly) with the crew from Aunty Jack in the ABC’s
Flash Nick from Jindavick. David has been an active member of
the Argyle Society and appeared in their productions of Godspell, The
Grand Duke and La Belle Helene. With the Argyle Society
he co-wrote and directed Who Murdered Lenny the Louse, which
was so successful it had a return season. David is currently studying
drawing at ANU and singing at the Goulburn Regional Conservatorium For
the Lieder David has performed in our 2003 Christmas production of Old Time Music Hall directed
by Stan Henderson, Away, our peace celebration at St Saviour’s
Cathedral Forks’n All (a feast for peace), The Ballad of Mary Ann Brownlow, The
Memory of Water and Round and Round the Garden. He was last seen at the Lieder as Prince Charles
and Cecil the Ram in Footrot flats.
Terry Phillips – Garry/ Roger
Terry has performed at the Lieder
in Pinocchio, Habeas Corpus, Babes
in the Wood, Oliver Twist, Dracula, and Treasure Island. He joined
the Company in 1999 to play the stripper in Blackrock and has also performed
in John Spicer’s 2000 production of Dark of the Moon. Terry stage managed
our foyer productions of The Man Who…, La Dispute
which toured to Tuggeranong, and the Lieder Youth Theatre
production of I= CAN performed around the Southern Tablelands and
at Smoke Free Burning Boards Youth Festival in the ACT.
Erin Williams- Brooke / Vicky
Erin lives in Canberra and we are thrilled that she is keen enough to travel to be in shows
at the Lieder. She became a member of the Lieder in 1993 and has been
involved in the company since. Her favourite shows in that time include
The Lesson, Cosi, Dinkum Assorted, Red Rining Hood, Blackrock,
Under Milkwood and Charley’s Aunt. Erin has also worked behind the scenes as stage manager, lighting and sound
operator and as a committee member of the Lieder. With the Lieder Youth
Theatre Company Erin has performed in the Goulburn Regional Arts Bash
(GRAB Fest), Passionsong, and two Regional Youth Theatre
Festivals hosted by the Lieder. In 1995 she directed Magic Island
for the Youth Theatre Co. In 1998 she travelled to the Czech Republic and
the UK with the Lieder in On the Bridge and G’Day Mate.
She has played the lead role in The Ballad of Mary Anne Brownlow
twice. For Canberra Repertory Society she has performed in An
Inspector Calls and Black Comedy, which won the
Canberra Area Theatre Award for best ensemble cast in 2001.
Chrisjohn Hancock – Director
Chrisjohn has been Artistic Director of the Lieder Theatre Company since
1992. He has directed over sixty productions during that time including
The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Tempest, The Memory
of Water, Inheritance, Away,
Peter Pan, Steel Magnolias, Money and Friends, Dinkum Assorted, Hotel
Sorrento, Wind in the Willows, Lord of the Flies, Dancing at Lughnasa,
Cosi, Under Milk Wood, Blackrock, Grimm Tales, Antigone, Gathering the
Dust, Summer of the 17th Doll, Oliver Twist, The Removalists, La Dispute, The Lesson, Skirmishes, Indians
and Waiting for Godot. For the Lieder Youth Theatre Company he has
directed, Picasso’s The Four Little Girls, tufff..., The Happy Prince,
Rolly's
Grave, Hot Chips and Gravy at the Blackhole Cafe, G’Day Mate, Hot Air,
The Vision of Delight, 2 Friendly for 4 Words, Dead One Done and Ubu.
Earlier productions include The Eagle Has Two Heads, Caroline
written by Paul Paviour for the Argyle Society, Hey You, Waterhole and Peace
in the Street for the Mustardseed Project, Under the Mask and The
Little Prince for Coco Youth Theatre, WA, Nuclear Split for the NT
Theatre in Education Team and Zigger Zagger and The
Fantasticks for Territory North Theatre Company, NT. Last year
Chrisjohn attended a Performing Arts Laboratory in Slovenia with Russian director
Sergey Ostrenko.
Martin Yeadon – Stage manager
Martin has been building sets and
stage managing shows around Goulburn for over 20 years, working with
all the community companies in town at some stage. His set building
skills have made it possible for the Lieder to mount this mammoth production
using a revolving stage and we are most grateful for all his skills
and time on this production. Along with four other volunteers (John
Knops, John Hartnett, Colin Simson, and Bill Wilson) this set has taken
six weeks to construct. Other productions but not all that Martin has
worked on at the Lieder include Oliver Twist, Habeas Corpus, Round
and Round the Garden, Inheritance, Hating Alison Ashley, Forks’n All,
Sylvia and Dracula. We are most grateful for all
his efforts at the Lieder.
