Wow, Noises Off is
so crazy. I once saw this play performed
and it was very difficult to follow what was going on most of the time. Keeping track of who’s who. Especially since every person is playing two
characters. It is very difficult to keep
track of whether they are acting in the play or if they’re acting in the play
within the play. Basically, it’s all
pretty chaotic. I was not prepared for
how much more the chaos would be magnified by reading the script! It is even more difficult to keep track of
who’s who. When they are calling a
character one name, but it says a different name on the side of the page when
they answer, I just found myself lost.
Because of all of the chaos and distractions, I initially found it a bit
difficult to pin down a motif. Then I just
had Dr. Fletcher’s words that he said NOT to use floating around in my brain
blocking out any other ideas. I finally
landing on repetition as a motif in Noises Off. I guess it’s actually a bit obvious in some
ways. In all three acts, of Noises Off, we are seeing the same
repeated Act 1 of the play that they are performing Nothing On. If you continue
to look though, this repetition is occurring on a smaller scale as well. In certain scenes, it is happening as the
characters strive to perform their play and must get their scenes right. There is the repetition of the sardines
always being an issue. There is
repetition in the backstage drama as well.
There are certainly twists and surprises, but there is a large amount of
feeling like “Oh, here we are again!” I
think that this motif is one that continues until the very end.
I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who came up with repetition as their motif either. Yeah, I thought that it was vague and obvious, but it was also so present that it’s almost impossible to ignore it. I felt that something as ingrained in the text in so many ways as it was had to be important. Small instance repeat constantly throughout the play as we both said, but you also pointed out the fact the acts themselves repeat. The fact that the play can repeat itself so many times and be fun, crazy, and still progress in the story line makes it an interesting read!
ReplyDeleteI love this motif too! Especially how it resolves itself. The show kind of happens in this vicious cycle. It makes you wonder how and if it could ever end. Once you reach the end of the play, you realize that almost no other ending would suffice with the amount of repetition that takes place. The only way to break the cycle was literally bring the curtain down and stop the show all together.
ReplyDeleteThis is a cool motif, and one that seems obvious but that I would never think of. It is mentioned a lot in the text and I see it affect most all of the characters. Their chaos is taken to the next level by all of the entrances and exits and repetition of lines. The "Oh here we go again"is a funny motif and definitely part of what gives Noises Off its charm.
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