Noises Off

“Only she isn’t holding the newspaper.”

This quote is an example of the structure of Act I. The text of Nothing On is in text boxes, and this line—where Dotty diverges from the script—is placed outside the text boxes. It is also italicized because it is a stage direction in Noises Off.

“Listen, Dotty, your words are fine, your words are better than the, do you know what I mean?”

Here, Garry alludes to the annotated script, which is called “the book” in actor parlance, but he doesn’t name it outright. His argument that Dotty’s improvisations are funnier than Housemonger’s text is reflected in the comedy of Noises Off. Its humor banks on the idea that failing to deliver Housemonger’s lines, and improvising new lines, is funnier than the play within a play. Garry forgetting the words “the book” foreshadows the disintegration of the Nothing On script as Noises Off progresses.

“And God said ‘Poppy!’ […] And there was Poppy. And God said, Be fruitful and multiply, and fetch Tim to fix the doors.”

Here, Lloyd refers to himself as God, quoting from the Biblical book of Genesis, which reflects how he is a disembodied voice from the audience at the beginning of the play. This is self-conscious humor on the part of his character but also a parodic critique on Lloyd’s pomposity and his—pernicious—impact on the play’s performance. “Multiplication” alludes to Poppy multiplying as part of The Repetition and Doubling Involved in Farce. The idea of her being fruitful foreshadows her finding out that she’s pregnant between Acts I and II.

“Standing there like Hamlet’s father.”

Lloyd compares Selsdon to Hamlet’s father’s ghost, which is a reference to Shakespeare’s most famous play, Hamlet. Only Prince Hamlet can see the ghost, just as only Brooke can see Selsdon. The humor of this line comes from recasting a moment from a classic tragedy as a farcical comedic beat.

“I’ve never understood why he carries an overnight bag and a box of groceries into the study to look at his mail.”

In this quote, Frederick needs some motivation for his character, Philip, to take the bag and box off stage. This illustrates that his character is needy and also highlights the artistic limitations of the play Nothing On. He can’t simply accept that the props need to be moved for the farce of the following scene to function.

“Freddie, love, why does anyone do anything? […] The wellsprings of human action are deep and cloudy.”

This is the answer that Lloyd gives to Frederick’s needy question above. Lloyd’s joke is a metaphor that compares motivation to an opaque spring. Here, Lloyd is shown to be a lazy and evasive director.

“Nothing but flapping doors in this house.”

This is Flavia’s scripted line about the large number of doors in the set of the Brents’ house. The doors are one example of the repetition and doubling involved in farce and the breakdown of artifice. More doors offer more opportunities for comedic juxtapositions.

“It’s like Myra Hess playing through the air raids.”

Myra Hess was a famous pianist who played during World War II in defiance of the ban on public gatherings. This comparison highlights the generational experience of Selsdon, who would have been a young man during the war, and the pathos of his character.

“I’m in the middle of rehearsing Richard III.”

When Lloyd visits the performance in Act II, he is now working on rehearsing a performance of Shakespeare’s play Richard III. This is an example of Lloyd’s grandiosity and also provides a comic juxtaposition between the renowned Shakespearean tragedy and the hackneyed farce of Nothing On.

“Richard himself—would you believe?—Richard III? (He demonstrates.)—has now gone down with a back problem.”

The allusion to Shakespeare’s play continues in this line. Richard III is portrayed by Shakespeare in Richard III as a “hunchback,” reflecting the historical belief that the king suffered from musculoskeletal problems. The joke is that the actor’s back problems are an example of life imitating art, a key idea of absurdist comedy.

“Yes, because if you have to go on for Garry, Poppy can’t go on for Dotty, because if Poppy goes on for Dotty, you’ll have to be on the book!”

The annotated script that stage managers run the show with, and prompt actors with, is called “the book.” It includes annotations about lighting, music, set change, and other cues outside of the main text. This passage makes explicit the growing chaos and hysteria as the action of Nothing On disintegrates.

“Belinda My sweet, we’re having great dramas downstairs! Lloyd We’re having great dramas out there!”

This dialogue develops the theme of The Relationship Between Personal and Professional Lives of Actors. Belinda tells Lloyd that the show is delayed because of the interpersonal drama between Garry, Dotty, and Frederick. Lloyd responds by describing the seniors in the audience being unsure if they have time to use the restroom before the show starts, which is a negative impact of the interpersonal drama.

“I think this show is beyond the help of a director.”

Lloyd tries to keep himself out of the backstage drama in this quote. This furthers the theme of the relationship between personal and professional lives of actors; the actors might need group therapy instead of a director to solve their interpersonal issues. Lloyd’s comment creates dramatic irony because Lloyd’s two-timing of Brooke and Poppy has caused much of the backstage drama and—the audience may think—the play hasn’t benefited much at all from the help of a poor director such as Lloyd.

“I’ve got a good mind to put my coat on and walk out of that door right here and now.”

Brooke, in response to Lloyd’s two-timing and the drama between Garry and Dotty, threatens to leave. Her coat is later used as a costume after Garry ties sheets together, thus ruining the sheet costumes. This quote foreshadows the use of the leopard print coat, put on backward, as the costume for Frederick when he plays the potential tenant who Roger is supposed to meet.

“Garry pleads with Dotty—kneels —weeps—hangs on to her plate of sardines.”

This develops the symbolism of the sardines. Here, they are a part of Garry’s attempt to reconcile with Dotty. The plate physically connects the two lovers and represents how Garry wants to work things out with Dotty.

“Belinda tells Poppy to read in Brooke’s part from the book.”

Here, Poppy is too frightened to go on stage in Vicki’s costume—her underwear—so she reads the lines from backstage using the book, or annotated script. Memorizing a script is going off book, and Poppy is still very much on book as an understudy for Brooke. Furthermore, Lloyd’s two lovers sharing the same lines highlights the interpersonal drama backstage.

“No bars, no burglar alarm. They ought to be prosecuted for incitement.”

The beginning of the burglar’s monologue is one example of the repetition and doubling involved in farce. At this point in Act II, Selsdon delivers the monologue alone. He also delivered it alone in the rehearsal in Act I, but in Act III, Lloyd and Tim deliver this monologue with Selsdon because Frederick keeps saying the line that is Selsdon’s cue to enter.

“Selsdon Hard to what? Omnes (shouting) Adjust to retirement! […] Selsdon It’s hard to access a requirement.”

Here, the joke about the burglar struggling to retire, which relies on him being old, is doubled by Selsdon forgetting the line and mishearing it. He struggles to repeat the line about retirement. Frayn’s joke is that Selsdon might need to retire. The pathos of this joke lies in the fact that a repertory actor such as Selsdon could probably not afford to stop working.

“Tim, seeing this as he takes his raincoat off, puts the raincoat back on again, hands the axe to Lloyd and wearily holds out his hand for money.”

Like Brooke’s coat, Tim’s coat is used as a costume near the end of Act II. It replaces the sheet that he usually wears as Philip’s double after Garry ties two sheets together. This quote comes earlier in Act II and is a silent, physical gag that represents Tim having to help with Lloyd’s love triangle.

“He gazes in amazement at the sight of Dotty and Selsdon.”

Here, Garry sees Selsdon touching Dotty because he believes that Brooke’s contact is in her dress. This is one of many silent misunderstandings that affect the relationship between personal and professional lives of actors. Garry is already upset about Dotty and Frederick having drinks, but Garry is shocked that there seems to be a romantic development between Dotty and Selsdon.

“Only what he wants to get mixed up in plays God only knows, he’d be safer off in the lion’s cage at the zoo.”

This is a meta-commentary on the nature of working in theater. The interpersonal drama between actors and tech crew is more dangerous than humans interacting with lions. This line is about Philip, who is a playwright in Nothing On, which develops the theme of Theater Reflecting Life’s Own Absurdities and Complexities.

“[F]inal notice…steps will be taken…distraint…proceedings in court…”

This is the line that Tim says when he comes on for Philip, and Frederick repeats this line three times, not realizing that Tim said it for him. The multiple deliveries of this line are part of the repetition and doubling involved in farce. The humor builds as Frederick offers this line at more incorrect moments.

“When all around it strife and uncertainty, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned plate of…He dries. ALL (holding up plates of sardines; beseechingly) Curtain!”

This is the conclusion of the sardines symbolism. The word “sardines” represents a stumbling block for Selsdon; he can never remember the last word of Nothing On. Here, the other actors offer the word by holding up the props but give up on saying it and call for the curtain instead.