Felicity Kendal Will Lead NOISES OFF 40th Anniversary Production

Theatre Royal Bath Productions presents one of the greatest British comedies ever written, starring one of our best-loved stage and screen stars, Felicity Kendal.

Directed by Lindsay Posner, the award-winning farce by Michael Frayn will open in Bath before heading on to Richmond, Brighton and Cambridge. Further casting to be announced.

Michael Frayn's celebrated play serves up a riotous double bill - a play within a play. Hurtling along at breakneck speed, Noises Off follows the on and off-stage antics of a touring theatre company as they stumble their way through the fictional farce, Nothing On. From the shambolic final rehearsals before opening night in Weston-super-Mare, to a disastrous matinee in Ashton-Under-Lyme seen entirely, and hilariously silently, from backstage, before we share their final, brilliantly catastrophic performance in Stockton-on-Tees.

One of the UK's best-loved actors, Felicity Kendal plays the role of the forgetful Dotty Otley. Having shot to fame in The Good Life, Felicity has won numerous awards for her stage work. Recent visits to Bath have included Relatively Speaking, Hay Fever and The Argument.

Noises Off will be directed Lindsay Posner, one of the UK's most accomplished directors of comedy. His previous production of Noises Off enjoyed a sell-out run at London's Old Vic. His recent productions in Bath include God of Carnage, Stones in his Pockets, She Stoops To Conquer, and he previously directed Felicity Kendal in the West End transfer of Hay Fever.

After watching from the wings a production of his 1970 farce The Two of Us with Richard Briers and Lynn Redgrave and noting that the goings on behind the scenes were funnier than out front, Michael Frayn wrote Noises Off. The original production opened in London in 1982 before becoming a worldwide hit. A feature film was made of Noises Off in 1992.

Tour Dates

21 September to 1 October 2022
PRESS NIGHT 28 September 2022
Theatre Royal Bath
theatreroyal.org.uk

25 October - 29 October 2022
Cambridge Arts Theatre
cambridgeartstheatre.com