It’s always a good time for a revival of Michael Frayn’s magical comedy about the theatre itself. For my money the funniest farce ever written, it returns in glory to Hammersmith after premiering at the Lyric in 1982 and going on to wow worldwide audiences. How many thousands of plates of sardines have been spilled between 1982 and now is anyone’s guess.
Frayn’s stroke of genius lay in constructing a “meta-farce”, in which we watch a fractious acting company attempt to stage a farce (The Play That Goes Wrong owes Frayn a huge debt of gratitude).
Nothing On, this creaky play-within-a-play, is already unravelling at the dress rehearsal in Act One and it certainly doesn’t get any better over the subsequent months of the tour, which we watch from “backstage” in Act Two and finally as “punters”.
In a meta-meta-theatrical twist, a real technical problem stopped the show on press night in the midst of the onstage-backstage technical chaos. Jeremy Herrin marshals a superb cast of nine to giddy heights of fun. The second act requires a dazzling extended feat of precision-timed physical comedy and this is achieved splendidly, even if it does slightly outstay its welcome.
Every actor is wonderful, from Lloyd Owen as the sardonic director (“That’s what it’s all about: doors and sardines”) to Daniel Rigby as the marvellously dim-witted leading actor, who is perpetually at a loss for his own words, if not those of the script.
Meera Syal has fun as sardine-carrier-in-chief Dotty Otley and there’s lovely work from Debra Gillett as the plucky peacemaker of the company. If you see an advert for Nothing On, avoid at all costs. Noises Off, though, is a winner.
Until July 27 (020 8741 6850, lyric.co.uk)
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