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NT s Noises Off Transfers to West End Post-Tour

The National's acclaimed revival of Michael Frayn's Noises Off will transfer to the West End in the spring. The comedy, starring Patricia Hodge, opened at the National's Lyttelton Theatre on 5 October 2000 (previews from 29 September) and continues there in repertory until 20 February 2001. It then embarks on a two-month UK regional tour before opening at the West End's Piccadilly Theatre on 3 May 2001.

It's after midnight and Garry, Frederick, Belinda and Brooke - hapless actors rehearsing the trouser-dropping farce, Nothing On - are confused. Should Dotty be holding the newspaper or the sardines? What's gone wrong with all the door handles? And where the hell is Selsdon Mowbray? A month later the troupe hits Goole, and tempers are fraying, hearts are breaking and the riotous fun on-stage is paralleled only by volcanic excitements off-stage. Can the show go on?

Noises Off is considered one of the great comic hits of the 1980s. It had its first West End run at the Savoy in 1982 and won the Olivier for Best Comedy of the Year before transferring to Broadway. Frayn's last play at the National, Copenhagen, still playing at the West End's Duchess Theatre, won both the 1998 Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards for Best New Play, while the Broadway transfer production also won Best Play and Best Director honours at last year's Tony Awards. Frayn's many other plays include Alarms and Excursions, Alphabetical Order, Make and Break and Benefactors.

In addition to Hodge, Noises Off stars Christopher Benjamin, Susie Blake, Peter Egan, Aden Gillett, Selina Griffiths, Jeff Rawle, Paul Thornley and Natalie Walter. The production is directed by Jeremy Sams and designed by Robert Jones, with lighting by Tim Mitchell and sound by Fergus O Hare.

La Cava, the Spanish musical currently at the Piccadilly Theatre, closes on 3 February 2001 and is followed by the acclaimed “junk opera”, Shockheaded Peter, which runs from 14 February to 28 April.

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