A motif that occurs in Frayn’s Noises Off is that all the drama that occurs backstage is centered
around relationships between the females and the men in the cast, by this I
mean a lot of the random crazy stuff that happens backstage is caused by the
characters taking criticism on there acting to heart or in some other way and
creating tension and ridiculous circumstance between each other. For example, when Lloyd scolds Brooke in a
semi polite yet very urgent manner that she needs to just say the 2nd
to last line of act 1 so they can take a tea break, she runs off crying and
feels personally victimized and this is because Brooke and Lloyd are having a
fling so naturally they are more sensitive towards each other, which goes for
some of the other couples who have paired off and affect each other in some in
some other ridiculous and comical way. I
would say that a great tag line for this play would be something like “Don’t
worry, it’s only the technical.” This
drives the action and hype throughout the majority of the play. By this I mean, the reason the play goes so
south the entire time is that these actors are so nonchalant about everything
and the director is constantly freaking out and it’s not even the technical but
the actors sort of refuse to accept that they are about to open and that is
what causes all the havoc because they are so unprepared and they seem to have
the mentality that they have plenty of time and that the show will just fall in
to place, like most shows do and the director is just not having it, yet he has
to be sensitive to his overly sensitive and non committed actors so that they
will at least get on stage.
I like your motif. Relationships are significant in this play and the way these people operate around/with each other is hysterical. This play is filled with sensitivity, aggression, misinterpretation and delusion. Everyone has a thing for someone else apparently and that initiates all the ridiculous actions. I also like your tagline, although I do think that the actors care about the show, just not as much as Lloyd. Saying that they’re nonchalant implies that they’re whatever about it, but I get what you mean. They do seem to think that everything will be ok the next day and Lloyd has to manage several exotic egos along with his own.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure what you mean by your choice in tag line. Let me rephrase, I know what you mean by “Don’t worry, it’s only the technical” but I don’t know what that has to do with what you are saying about the characters relationships. What you’re saying is true and the tag line could work but if you could just relate the two ideas for me the two ideas for me, as in tell me what ‘it’s only technical’ has to do with the relationships then I think it would be easier to understand the point you’re trying to make.
ReplyDeleteYour motif is really interesting. I would read the play and wonder if I got this crazy over a guy. I find this play even funnier as an actor because backstage romances and relationships really have a big influence on the performance, especially since a cast spends so much time together, and tensions get so high by opening night. It's definitely a driving force for the play.
ReplyDelete