Noises Off

"This cast is so well-matched that they really do seem to have been working together for months….Indeed, the astonishing thing about the contrivances is that, in a well-judged production like this one, they eventually break into yet another sphere…How something can be both nonsense and (in the context of the play) inevitable is a great and beautiful mystery, one that makes 'Noises Off' not just one of the funniest plays ever written but one of the best." Full Review

"The second act in particular is a whirligig of slapstick choreography for whose pristine execution Mr. Herrin deserves the highest possible marks. The secret ingredient of his production is that Mr. Herrin has gone to similar lengths to ensure that every member of the cast plays for truth, not laughs—which makes you laugh twice as hard…Complaints? I’ve got none. This show is flawless." Full Review

"'Noises Off' has to be one of the funniest farces ever written…Director Jeremy Herrin has crafted a piece saturated in comic brilliance. He has utilized the comedy lurking in every available moment and has created a rollercoaster of inspired hilarity…The cast are so brilliant you want your own action figures of them…I loved everything about this show." Full Review

"The funniest backstage comedy ever written…Director Jeremy Herrin painstakingly sets up the dominoes in a muted first act, only to knock them down in spectacular fashion in the second, and dynamite them in the third...Cheeky design, a highly talented ensemble, and perfect comic timing: This 'Noises Off' has the right combination of elements to make the perpetually funny comedy soar. If you're looking for a night of gut-busting hilarity, you can't do any better than this one." Full Review

"This nearly perfect British farce is getting another spectacular revival…This team is perfection, making it all look so easy and seamless. All should be credited with the word, ‘spectacular’...The only complaint I have of this whole shows lies in the portrayal of love and attraction... I can’t say I ever believed in the love or the affairs, I never really saw it, nor felt it...This cast of professionals are spot on perfect, never missing a beat or failing to get the laugh. Full Review

"Director Jeremy Herrin and his near-consummate cast have achieved a feat I'd previously deemed impossible: They've unlocked more complexities in 'Nothing On,' the thoroughly absurd play-within-a-play…'Nothing On' means something powerful to each and every person putting it on…It's to Herrin's immense credit that so many of the thousand jokes still hit their targets, when they never seem to be his prevailing goal." Full Review

"This 'Noises Off' is splendidly delirious fun…A perfectly-calibrated production which brings full value to Frayn's text while adding layers of visual humor that leaves audiences hooting with delight…Herrin's production is slam-bang, knockdown funny…Director Herrin has pulled out all the stops with this 'Noises Off,' with a fair share of the credit due the insanely warped mind of Michael Frayn, who dreamed the contraption up." Full Review

"Farce requires exceptional expertise, which is certainly there in full steam in the wonderfully-cast revival of 'Noises Off.' The show is a sure-fire prescription for all who are seeking the kind of belly laughs to be heard at Roundabout Theater Company’s production under the blissful direction of Jeremy Herrin." Full Review

"There are several surprising things about Roundabout’s revival of Michael Frayn’s 1982 madcap farce. The first is almost consistent laughter erupting somewhere in the audience over the course of three acts (with one intermission). Three acts without a slump in energy or imagination. Even if you’re not an aficionado of slapstick, masterful direction and wonderful casting will get under your skin and broadly tickle." Full Review

"It's easy to see why 'Noises Off' is a theatrical favorite. And the current incarnation, with a superb cast hits the mark. Hilty's goofy blonde clicks, while Martin, a Broadway staple, doesn't miss a beat. Director Jeremy Herrin has assembled a sharp ensemble that delivers comedy gold." Full Review

"Michael Frayn's farce about putting on a stage farce is breathlessly clever and funny, a staple of the contemporary theater repertoire. How can it be made even funnier? The Roundabout Theatre Company somehow has found a way...An all-star group of comedic talents allowed to run riot…Everyone onstage has to believe that the risks are real, and this new ensemble never mugs or winks. They are utterly, terribly good at being bad, which is meant as a supreme compliment." Full Review

"They’re rolling in the aisles at the Roundabout, where 'Noises Off' is having a rollicking revival...Herrin choreographs the chaos with precision and split-second timing, and the cast is uniformly superb. Frayn doesn’t miss an opportunity to poke fun at every aspect of the theatre – down to the last detail...The flawless Roundabout production is an utter delight." Full Review

"A cast that is simply an embarrassment of riches…This is just fabulous. Particularly with a farce, it's all in the timing, and director Herrin gets it just right…Doors slam at just the right moment; a treacherous phone cords wraps so diabolically around a characters; an axe is caught, one-handed, in the nick of time. And this cast…The standout is the luminescent Megan Hilty…We knew she was good, but with this role, Hilty raises the bar for comedic acting." Full Review

"Jeremy Herrin's revival is hilarious...'Noises Off' takes a cast of superb actors who are masters at physical comedy. The play has to be choreographed as completely as a ballet. The timing has to be perfect. One could not ask for a better cast than that appearing at the Roundabout. Andrea Martin is brilliant as always. Everyone else is fine, but I have to give special recognition to Megan Hilty's screamingly funny, uncoordinated dumb blond and Rob McClure's frantic stage manager." Full Review

"In Jeremy Herrin’s splendid new production, 'Noises Off' once again inspires gales of laughter from theatergoers. Frayn’s conceit for the show couldn’t be more inspired…In what might be the show-stealing performance among a group of terrific comic performances, Megan Hilty plays Brooke to the hilt." Full Review

"The revival of 'Noises Off' is not only consistently funny, but a wonderment in precision acting and movement...Director Jeremy Herrin deserves special commendation for the exactitude he brings to the production and his meticulousness to detail. He guides the cast, with both nuanced, subtle performances as well as outright uproariousness, producing an always lively, very funny show." Full Review

"An uproarious new revival solidly mounted by Jeremy Herrin, featuring a fantastic ensemble of seasoned stage actors strutting their stuff…The gifted clown Andrea Martin is just darling as Dotty…Jeremy Shamos is very funny as the good-natured, but nervous wreck Frederick, and has a bit of physical business about regaining his footing that might very well get him nominated for an Astaire Award…'Noises Off' is a night of wild, frenetic fun." Full Review

"The heady, headlong and altogether hilarious farce providing generous doses of heat-generating laughter as the winter chill finally sets in…Once it hits its lively stride, Mr. Herrin’s production rollicks along with machine-tooled precision, churning out belly laughs as if from an assembly line…'Noises Off' would be a mere dissertation in clever dramaturgical mechanics, were it not for the expertly drawn characters, here embodied by a first-rate cast." Full Review

"Funny lady Andrea Martin leads the nimble cast of this well-tooled revival...Martin who was born to make us laugh, is a perfect hoot in the pivotal role of the scatterbrained actress…On the laugh meter, Act I is only so-so. But as a setup for the next two acts, it’s brilliant. Act II is bust-a-gut funny…'Noises Off' seems to be always playing somewhere in the civilized world...And that’s exactly the way it should be, because this kind of comedic brilliance never gets stale." Full Review

"For 'Noises Off' to work on a basic level, its thoroughly intricate physical activity must be staged with the precision of a ballet. But a great production, which this revival certainly is, builds the slapstick around truthful performances, thus making the chaos feel natural…Act Two is a tour-de-force of silent comedy…Jeremy Herrin has brought together a dynamic ensemble cast of stage veterans." Full Review

"A percussive dose of slamming doors, wince-inducing pratfalls and enough suggestive tomfoolery to fill the bill at Minsky’s…Jeremy Herrin lets 'Noises Off' wind up a bit slowly, but once all the gears are in synch, the show is a dazzlement of set-pieces fit together with jigsaw perfection. Martin returns to her roots as a mistress of the comic gesture, doing more with a plate of fish or an old newspaper than you may have imagined possible." Full Review

"A cumulatively virtuosic nine-expert ensemble of smart and fearless comic actors…British director Jeremy Herrin turns out to have a shrewd silly streak…The comedy in the first of three acts feels a little forced. But Herrin soon catapults the physical and verbal humor headlong into increasingly inspired opportunities to watch characters play out their real lives while trying to perform the complications of their second-rate play." Full Review

"Crackling new revival...As directed by Jeremy Herrin, the result hops over the contrivances of the script, balancing pure silliness with awesome precision while making you realize how important terrific actors are to this play about terrible actors." Full Review

"An A-list ensemble, led by beloved comedienne Andrea Martin, takes classic scenes and amps them up…I don't have warm and fuzzy feelings toward farce in general, and 'Noises Off' takes its time building to full-fledged nuttiness. But director Jeremy Herrin shrewdly pulls off 'Off' with one intermission...Things here just flow…Even if you know the farce inside-out, this team ensures that some laughs will catch you off guard." Full Review

"Director Jeremy Herrin's superlative staging mines Frayn's crammed script for every one of its minute details, all on Derek McLane's extraordinary set...If Act III dips somewhat, it's only because Act I is a procession of wonderfully observed mishaps while the largely wordless Act II is an unequaled display of slapstick that even the best mimes could only hope to equal...As peerless as the cast of this unmissable revival of 'Noises Off' is, Hilty provides a comedic acting class by herself." Full Review