Noises Off - a show to brighten your Christmas

The majority of the cast in act one, before the hilarious mayhem starts.

Noises Off by the Dannevirke Theatre Company is a play within a play: the play in question called Nothing On, which might give some hint as to its nature.

The stage is a house converted from a 16th-century posset mill, with no fewer than eight functioning doors leading to bedrooms etc, and is temporarily for rent.

Act one sets the scene, as the cast in its final technical rehearsal vainly tries to act out the play as written, in the set viewed by the audience from the front. Even act one has its humorous moments.

It sets the scene for what is to come in acts two and three.

Act two, which is viewed from backstage, is the same play set as a matinee performance a month into the season, and act three is viewed again from the front, near the end of a 10-week season when relationships between cast members have deteriorated into hilarious slapstick and farce.

No pictures of act two and three accompany this review as it would spoil the impact, suffice to say, some very experienced Dannevirke actors carry out the hilarious mayhem with great timing and energy using a variety of unique props including plates of sardines, a cactus…

To go to this show you will have to be armed with tissues or hankies, not because it is sad but because it is unbelievably funny. You need a break between acts not only for backstage staff to turn the stage around, but to give the audience a chance to take in what they have already witnessed, even recover their decorum.

Director Shaun Newell has brought this play together brilliantly, from designing the set to guiding his cast in a very fast-moving slapstick comedy. He has even taken on a major role on stage this month, being ably supported by assistant director Anna Howell.

The show runs from November 22 - December 2

Tickets can be obtained from the Dannevirke Information Centre and iTicket.co.nz

Dave Murdoch is a part-time photo-journalist working for the Bush Telegraph and based at Dannevirke. He has covered any community story telling good news about the district for the last ten years.