Noises Off (MTC, Queensland Theatre)

Who doesn't love a good LOL or two at the theatre? Melbourne audiences have had their sides perpetually split by a steady supply of rip-roaring comedies in recent months. Indeed, MTC's 2017 season is especially laden with laughs, including a new production of the show hailed as the funniest ever penned, Michael Frayn's perfect farce Noises Off.

That may sound like an audacious claim, but there's plenty of evidence to back it up. Its construction is like a Swiss clock, with each stumble, slammed door, spilled sardine or dropped trouser a perfectly assembled cog in a beautifully crafted mechanism of madness.

It follows the misadventures of a regional theatre company as they attempt to perform 'Nothing On' - a saucy romp about tax evasion, elderly thieves and long lost daughters. Unfortunately, their chemistry is more explosive than entertaining. Lead actress Dotty (Louise Siversen) is overwhelmed by props. Nice-but-dim Freddie (Hugh Parker) wants to know his motivation. Blind optimist Belinda (Nicki Wendt) just wants everyone to get along, while clueless ingenue Brooke (Libby Munro) has at least learned her lines. Meanwhile, old drunk Selsdon (Steven Tandy) is on the grog, stage hand Tim (James Saunders) has lost the plot, Stage Manager Poppy (Emily Goddard) is having a break down, and cock of the walk geezer Garry (Ray Chong Nee) is, well kinda, you know what I mean? Derailed by clashing personalities, illicit affairs, scorned affections and piss-poor acting, this misfit cast of players cling-on by their fingertips as various forms of chaos create a Venn diagram for a bloody funny disaster.

There's no denying the hilarity that ensues, and this play's international popularity and indestructible longevity (it's been treading the boards almost non-stop since the early 1980s) is a credit to its entertaining silliness. It is, however, a very particular kind of comedy - a distinctly white, middle-class, affluent wheeze. With toffee-voiced luvvies cooing back stage in the if-you-have-to-ask-you'll-never-know vernacular, and a few wince-making racial and gendered references that shine a light on its 35-year-old sensibilities, there are moments when its jokes seem rather threadbare and elite.

This production does, however, boast a first-rate cast — particularly notable is Simon Burke AO as the quietly exasperated, secretly philandering director, summoning just the right balance of dry British wit and withering authority. Louise Sivesen also shines as Dotty, whose transformation from ultra posh old pro to rickety cockney-voiced Mrs Clackett, the sardine loving house keeper, is pitch perfect.

But, while it may be very well made, it is by no means a fool proof show. With Newtonian zeal, every action in this play has an equal (although not always opposite) reaction, and thus every step,  pivot and slip-up must be flawlessly executed as if absolutely inevitable. Disappointingly, there are moments when the pace lets this production down. Director Sam Strong has sought to channel the kind of anarchic dynamism Benny Hill might applaud, but there are several occasions when the velocity of events is a shade too cautious; almost break-neck isn't quite fast enough. It's a relatively minor quibble, and yet it's a difficult one to overlook - an underplayed farce is almost no farce at all, and while this production is very good, it manages to fall just short of being truly great.

Melbourne Theatre Company and Queensland Theatre present Noises Off till 12 Aug at Southbank Theatre.