62 pages • 2 hours read
Noises Off
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Symbols & Motifs
Sardines
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of substance use.
Sardines are a symbol that represent the obstructions that the actors in Noises Off face as they attempt to stage Nothing On. They are also a comic motif, as they turn up repeatedly in the action of both plays, like the “bad penny” of English idiom.
In particular, Dotty struggles to remember when she takes the various plates of sardines on stage and off stage. Her character, Mrs. Clackett, says, “I’m going to be opening sardines all night, in and out of here like a cuckoo on a clock” (59). Not being able to hold onto her sardines is what keeps Mrs. Clackett from being able to relax and watch the television. Philip glues himself to a plate of sardines; they keep him from being intimate with his wife. The word “sardines” is a sticking point for Selsdon. It is the last word of the last line of Act I of Nothing On, and he can’t remember it. It gets in the way of the actors being able to finish the act and complete the final joke of the act.
On a literal level, Dotty spills the sardines on stage in Act III. Garry and Frederick slip on them before Belinda is able to cover the slippery spot with the sofa. They become a different kind of physical gag than how they are scripted in Nothing On. Sardines keep the actors from performing their movements and lines. Furthermore, the sardines, ensconced in the newspaper, end up on the sofa, and Dotty almost sits on them. They obstruct her ability to follow the script’s blocking. Finally, when sardines are employed as a weapon, such as when Garry spills them on Dotty’s head and Dotty spills them down Belinda’s dress, they get in the way of the actors’ performances.
Bags and Boxes
Bags and boxes are symbolic of the nature of farce and its formal components in theater. The script of Nothing On calls for Roger to carry in a bag and box and, later, for Philip to carry in a very similar looking bag and box. These props have to be strategically placed, and their multiplicity develops the theme of The Repetition and Doubling Involved in Farce. The two “flight bag[s]” and two boxes become confused with one another and are moved around (24). Vicki’s line “Bag! Bag! Bag!” verbally multiplies the object (51), in addition to farcical proliferation of the physical object. This is an example of Frayn’s playfulness on the verbal-visual nature of theater.
In Act I, Frederick stops rehearsal to ask about his character’s motivation to carry the bag and box into the study (off stage). Garry explains that “they have to be out of the way for [his] next scene” (38). Their placements need to be precise for the scripted farce to function. However, Lloyd has to invent several other character motivations for Frederick; the bag and box are also an ideological stumbling block for him. When the actors veer away from the script, the bags and boxes end up in the wrong places on stage. In Act III, they literally trip up Garry, causing him to fall down the stairs.
Whiskey Bottle
The whiskey bottle has multiple symbolic meanings. In Act II, Lloyd intends to give it to Brooke to help convince her to stay in the show and accept him as her lover. It represents his concern about her and about the show. However, the whiskey is taken, and hidden, by Selsdon repeatedly. It literarily represents his drinking but is also symbolic of his past history and current life. Selsdon’s character relies on the archetype of the aging repertory actor, at the end of a career that has been lonely, challenging, and financially precarious. The whiskey bottle is a symbol of this social context.
The bottle mirrors the farcical placement of props in Nothing On and their misplacement in Noises Off, as the members of the company find and move the whiskey around backstage to keep Selsdon from drinking it. Lloyd, Dotty, and Belinda all end up drinking from the bottle when the show starts to fall apart. In an absurd role reversal, the bottle ends up on stage. It is near the side of the stage even before the show begins, and Tim has to collect it when he announces the delay in the start of the performance. He, and the others, have to hide it from Selsdon. It ends up in a mop bucket that Dotty brings on stage to clean up the spilled sardines. She “puts the bottle of whisky with the other bottles on the sideboard” (146), and it stays on stage among other bottles for the rest of the play. The whiskey bottle represents The Relationship Between Personal and Professional Lives of Actors. Selsdon’s issues with alcohol eventually lead to there being bottles of alcohol on stage, as well as off stage.
Flowers
Three bouquets and a cactus appear in Act II. Like the whiskey, the flowers are meant to represent Lloyd’s affection for Brooke, as well as his desire to keep her in the show. However, Tim hands Poppy the first bouquet of flowers that he buys for Lloyd, and she thinks they are for her, from Tim. Lloyd accidentally hands the second bouquet to Dotty and the third bouquet to Belinda. These bouquets come to represent the common practice of getting flowers for performers, instead of representing Lloyd’s desires. All these bouquets end up on Poppy’s desk. There, they represent the competition between Brooke and Poppy for Lloyd’s affection. Brooke becomes jealous at this point. Lastly, Tim purchases a cactus, which Lloyd unsuccessfully tries to present to Brooke, but she rejects it, and Garry uses the cactus to hurt Lloyd as a result of sexual jealousy. The cactus represents the prickly nature of the various love triangles.
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