Noises Off, Old Vic, Waterloo

Halfway through the performance I looked around - the audience, panting and wheezing, were delirious with laughter, it was hilarity beyond anything I have ever before witnessed at the theatre. I was at the press night for Noises Off, the very clever and very funny play by Michael Frayn. It was first performed in 1982 but feels fresh and exciting in this sparky revival. Having seen some of director Lindsay Posner’s previous work, I am not surprised to see him produce another hit show.

Noises Off is a play within a play, a small dysfunctional cast are putting the final touches to their production of ‘Nothing On’, a farcical comedy. The group are a mix of theatrical types including an unreliable boozer, a clueless young girl, a worrier who needs reassurance every line, and the infuriated director. Gossip is circulated while the cast rehearse the first act, the day before opening night. As the evening progresses, everything unravels and the situation becomes more and more disorderly and ridiculous. Frayn’s script is genius and comes across very naturally on stage, it is fast paced and fluent, Frayn seems to understand this kind of chaos and the piece never loses momentum.

The production is brilliantly executed, and rehearsed to within an inch of its life, each cast member giving a staggeringly precise and perfect performance, the actors are faultless. I recognised most of the faces: Robert Glenister, who I remember well from TV series ‘Hustle,' is fabulously exasperated as the stressed out director. Celia Imrie is wonderful as ever, fully immersing herself in the ditzy part of Dotty Otley. But the real highlight performance for me comes from Jamie Glover who excels in every comic conundrum, he manages to jump up the stairs with his shoelaces tied together!

Don’t blink or you may miss a moment of humour, Noises Off is honestly a laugh a second, and I felt exhausted by the final curtain. ‘Tis the season to be jolly in London… along with One Man Two Guvnors, our capital city is boasting the best crop of comic plays ever.

Continues until 10 March, 2012, book here.

Cause Celebre at The Old Vic

In his centenary year, the country has gone Terrence Rattigan mad, with revivals of ‘Flare Path’ and ‘Cause Celebre’ leading the pack. I am a massive Rattigan fan, I find him to be a very natural playwright whose scripts are both sincere and affecting; it is a shame that we need an anniversary to perform his plays.

Cause Celebre has just begun its run at the Old Vic. It is Rattigan’s final play, completed in 1976, and originally written for radio. Based on an actual 1930s murder trial, this mysterious story outraged and simultaneously fascinated the British public. It intrigued Rattigan too and stayed in his memory for forty years before he felt able to create a powerful play from it.

Alma Rattenbury and her 18 year old lover George are accused of murdering Mrs Rattenbury’s much older husband - an upper class scandal in Bournemouth that filled every newspaper, it was the story on everyone’s lips. Justice is forgotten as Alma becomes the target of everyone's prejudice; the media scorn her moral decisions, and her fate seems to be decided on these issues rather than the facts of the case. The public interest in this case led to the transfer from Bournemouth to the Old Bailey, a larger court to accommodate the queues of people wanting to watch.

As a sub-plot, alongside the Rattenbury outrage, we meet another woman, a fictional addition that creates another dimension and draws parallels within the narrative. Edith Davenport is an upstanding member of society, hoping to always do the ‘right thing’. She is in the midst of a painful divorce after discovering her husband's philandering ways, though with her dislike of sex her friend assures her that this behaviour is to be expected of him. She is also a devoted mother refusing to believe her 17 year old son to be a ‘man’, terrified of the dangers that arrive with his coming of age. Edith must stand as a juror on the Rattenbury case, despite protesting and claiming she cannot give ‘such a woman’ a fair trial, as her judgement is already clouded by the bad press.

Gossiping will never go out of fashion, it’s what women do best and Rattigan understands this. He is a perceptive observer of the female psyche, writing roles that are wonderfully dramatic and intriguing. Anne-Marie Duff triumphs as the playful leading lady, Alma Rattenbury. Duff rightly says: “we’re lucky us girls... Rattigan tends to use women in a brilliant way.” She returns to the stage for the first time since her winning performance in Saint Joan at the National in 2007. She effortlessly constructs this complicated character, her face is joyfully expressive, and her giant personality fills the stage despite the disappointingly sparse set.

Niamh Cusack takes on the part of Edith Davenport. I previously saw Cusack in ‘The Painter’ and wasn’t overly impressed, but here her worrying eyes and nervy nature fit the bill. Nicholas Jones is inspired as Alma’s defence lawyer, O’Connor, marching about the stage and providing a little light comic relief. Having recently done jury service myself, I was particularly interested by this court drama and was impressed with the intense realism of Rattigan’s writing. The only character I was dissatisfied by was the young Tommy McDonnell as the guilty lover, he is too aggressive to be attractive, and I just couldn’t completely believe in him.

The Old Vic is a beautiful theatre, I always feel like I’m inside a giant box of chocolates sitting inside this building. With youth comes theatre bargains and the Old Vic have an exceptional offer for 25s and under... I sat for a mere £12 in the centre of the front row stalls, scintillatingly close to the action. If you refuse to pay the ridiculously high prices for Flare Path, get your Rattigan fix at the Old Vic’s cheaper, but equally brilliant production.

Cause Celebre continues until 11 June, book here.

DITCH any other plans and head to the Old Vic tunnels

A dead hare hung from the ceiling to greet the audience as they entered.

We entered through a small unsteady door, the space was immediately dark and the air was damp. I felt and heard the resounding heartbeat of the Waterloo trains above.

Strings were stretched across areas of the tunnels.

Ditch is certainly a surreal experience, every moment more surprising than the last right up until the final, painfully bitter moments of the play. It is performed in Tunnel 228, a once functional train tunnel beneath Waterloo station.

An inventive cage: part of the installation.

The production, which is a fusion of art and theatre, begins as an installation that you must walk through to reach your seat. Sinister clues are displayed against harsh lighting, for example a dead hare hanging above a pool of blood. It's not clear if the haunting symbols are something intended by writer, Beth Steel or if the production team decided on it themselves, either way they set the scene very powerfully. Once you've walked through these shadowy tableaux you reach a small makeshift theatre space.

A dissected hanging tree: part of the installation.

Despite the cold hostile environment, we were kept snug in our seats with cosy complimentary blankets. The play itself was relentless, set in a dystopian future. We watch a group of 'fascist strongmen'; there purpose is to catch the illegals they find on the moors. They are tended to by two women, powerless and lost within a world of aggressive men. The narrative of Beth Steel's play is a little confusing at the start but the cast's flawless acting is convincing enough to carry one along. The six characters loosely pair up - the lovers, the friends, the elders. Their prospects are bleak, and yet through the whiskey-fuelled action there are moments of hope amongst the despair and eventual doom. A glimpse of romance adds a little compassion to the story and allows the audience to sympathise. The juxtaposition of these tender feelings against the harsh reality of this dwindling civilisation is engaging and Richard Twyman's direction emphasises this further.

The quirky bar, designed by Junk & Gems and Hendzel & Hunt.

Of the six actors, Dearbhla Molloy, who played the role of Mrs Peel, was most impressive. Her gritty depiction of this older woman was consistently moving despite the brutal nature of the part. Throughout the show the sound effects blend with the disturbing rumbling trains above, a constant reminder of one's location. I thoroughly enjoyed both the play (which is playwright Beth Steel's first) and the atmospheric environment. With £12 ticket offers there is no reason to miss out on this other worldly experience.

We excited through a graffiti filled subway, which was suprisingly beautiful.