Old Vic’s Noises Off transfers to Novello, 24 March

The Old Vic’s all-star staging has a cast which includes Celia Imrie, Janie Dee, Jonathan Coy, Robert Glenister, Paul Ready, Karl Johnson and Jamie Glover, all of whom will transfer with the production.

Aisling Loftus and Amy Nuttall, who play Poppy Norton-Taylor and Brooke Ashton respectively in the Old Vic production, will not transfer to the West End. Casting for the roles is to be announced shortly.

Posner’s revival is the first time Noises Off has been seen in the West End since Jeremy Sams’ 2000 production at the National Theatre transferred for two stints, first at the Comedy Theatre and then at the Piccadilly following a UK tour.

The play premiered at the Lyric Hammersmith in 1982 and will celebrate its 30th anniversary on 23 February. The original production was directed by Michael Blakemore and starred Patricia Routledge, Paul Eddington, and Nicky Henson. Shortly after it transferred to the West End’s Savoy Theatre, where it ran until 1987 with five successive casts. It won the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and the Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year.

The farce’s backstage imbroglio follows a touring company who mount a chaotic production of the trouser-dropping Nothing On. Amongst all the confusion, frayed tempers, broken hearts and off-stage explosions, can the show go on?

Lindsay Posner was associate director at the Royal Court Theatre from 1987 to 1992 where his production of Death and The Maiden won two Laurence Olivier Awards. His other recent theatre credits include Butley (Duchess Theatre), An Ideal Husband (Vaudeville), House of Games (Almeida), Fool For Love (Apollo Theatre) and A View From The Bridge (Duke of York’s, nominated for four Olivier Awards).