Silhouette Stages Presents NOISES OFF

"That's what it's all about. Doors and sardines. Getting on - getting off. Getting the sardines on - getting the sardines off. That's farce. That's the theater. That's life."

Silhouette Stages announces their upcoming production of the classic comedy Noises Off! to be held on the evenings of March 5, 6, 12, and 13 at 8 PM and on March 7 and 14 at 3 PM at the beautiful Slayton House Theater in Wilde Lake, Columbia. Tickets are $15 and $12 for seniors and students and will be sold at the door.

Bob Russell directs this legendary farce, written by award-winning novelist and playwright Michael Frayn. Noises Off! is a highly theatrical and extraordinarily funny look behind the scenes of a British theatre troupe performing a second-rate sex comedy called Nothing On. Doors slam, identities are confused and chaos reigns in this hilarious comedy that follows the motley and disorganized theatre company as they rehearse, perform and, well, just try to make it through Nothing On as the never-ending theatrical mishaps snowball out of control. The idea for the show was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. According to the playwright, "It was funnier from behind than in front and I thought that one day I must write a farce from behind." The prototype, a short-lived one-act play entitled Exits, was written and performed in 1977. Later, Frayn expanded the play into what would become Noises Off! The New York Post dubbed Noises Off! "the funniest farce ever written."

Noises Off! has had audiences laughing uproariously for 25 years, including two Tony-nominated Broadway runs, and has featured Patti LuPone, Peter Gallagher, and Faith Prince. In 1992, the play was adapted for the screen starring Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Nicolette Sheridan, Denholm Elliott, Julie Hagerty, Mark Linn-Baker and Marilu Henner.