Noises Off
Theatre Royal Stratford East
- Opens: Friday, 5 February 2027 -
Booking until: Saturday, 13 March 2027
Noises Off photos
Noises Off description
Noises Off is Michael Frayn's backstage farce about a touring theatre company whose production falls apart on stage and off.
The director is despairing, the leading lady cannot find her props, one of the actors is still in the pub, and the whole company is in love, in lust, in a sulk, or all three at once. The play opens on a frantic dress rehearsal, then turns the set around to show the chaos backstage at a performance in full meltdown, as doors slam, lines are forgotten and egos unravel.
First staged in 1982, Noises Off is a multi award-winning comedy and a play-within-a-play built on precisely timed entrances, exits and mishaps. This new Stratford East production, generously supported by PW Productions, arrives 45 years after the play's premiere.
The play is written by Michael Frayn, whose seventeen plays include Copenhagen and Democracy, and who has also translated Chekhov's last four plays. It is directed by Lisa Spirling, Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Stratford East, whose credits include Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy at Stratford East and the Olivier-nominated Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial in the West End. She previously led Theatre503 from 2016 to 2025. Casting is by Jatinder Chera.
Paterson Joseph plays the director Lloyd Dallas. His screen work includes Peep Show, Vigil, Boat Story and the film Wonka, and his stage credits include productions at the Old Vic, the RSC and the National Theatre. Tameka Empson plays Dotty Otley. Known as Kimberly Fox in EastEnders, she won Best Comedy Performance at the 2022 British Soap Awards and received an Olivier Award nomination for The Big Life at Stratford East. Further casting is to be announced.
Book now for a classic backstage comedy in which everything that can go wrong does.
Playing at Theatre Royal Stratford East
Age restrictions
Ages 12+.