Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"..."Noises Off," itself influenced by 1970s BBC sitcoms like "Fawlty Towers" and "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em," went on to spawn other massively successful comedic franchises, most notably "The Play That Goes Wrong" (seen in Chicago in 2021) and spinoffs like "Peter Pan Goes Wrong," etc. "Noises Off" has been produced for years all over the world and was last done here, and very well, too, at the Windy City Playhouse in 2019."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...It's like going to the Monet room at the Art Institute and, amid the haystacks, you find that "American Gothic" has been hung to celebrate its return from another seemingly endless tour. You can't help trying to interpret the Grant Wood classic anew, hoping if you stare at it long enough the lighting will change."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Fast, furious and ferociously funny, it’s about a second-rate 1970s theater troupe touring England’s hinterlands in a third-rate sex farce titled “Nothing On,” whose negligible plot centers on sardines, sheets and slamming doors, according to director Lloyd Dallas (Rick Holmes)."
Stage and Cinema
- Recommended
"...Presented in partnership with L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse (where Steppenwolf Ensemble Member Tarell Alvin McCraney is the new Artistic Director), Steppenwolf’s production throws some of Chicago’s top talent on Todd Rosenthal‘s spectacular set to perform an outdated farce. Many regular theatregoers have probably come across Noises Off at some point in their lives. If you go, you’ll certainly have fun. But as door-slamming actors run up and down the stairs, that creaking you hear isn’t coming from the treads and risers, but the play."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...There's no need to continue reading this review. Instead, go to www.steppenwolf.org
and treat yourself to the best seats you can find, and thank me later. Noises Off is the greatest
comedic play ever written and no theater company could execute it as well as Steppenwolf -
nothing can convince me otherwise."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews
- Recommended
"...Steppenwolf Theater's production of Noises Off may be considered an exceptional comedic farce— still, I'm not entirely convinced that it lives up to the hype as a side-splitting, must-see performance. It feels like a tired, recycled slapstick comedy rather than a witty, engaging experience. The plot has the cast and crew of "Nothing On" scrambling to prepare for opening night. Unfortunately, almost nothing is going right – the cast can't remember their lines, misplaced props, missed cues, and continuously questions the direction of the play, causing chaos and confusion."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...There is nothing quite like a British comedy. I, for one, love the farcical humor, the door slamming, the outrageous situations and tonight, at Steppenwolf Theater's "Downstairs Theater", I was witness to another version of one of my all- time favorite comedies, "Noises Off". This classic farce written by Michael Frayn is a joint production with the Geffen Playhouse ( A California theater company)."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Appropriately labeled "The funniest farce ever written" by the New York Post, please don't miss Steppenwolf's meticulously directed and perfectly cast production of Michael Frayn's hilarious comedy. The farce is filled curious characters, priceless plot twists, plates piled high with sardines and lots of slamming doors. Made even more perfect by Todd Rosenthal's gorgeous set, Izumi Inaba's colorful costumes, Josh Epstein's expert Lighting and Cricket Meyers' fine Sound Design, with Violence Design provided by R&D Choreography and Kate DeVore's careful Dialect and Vocal Coaching, this is one theatrical experience that Chicago audiences richly deserve and won't soon forget."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...I am thoroughly impressed by the cast in this show. Each actor seamlessly switches in and out of their play characters without error. Most of them carry the British accents well, while others could finesse it a bit more. By the third act, the actors were flying off and on stage, changing props, exchanging lines and swapping characters rapidly. I felt my head spinning and was shocked by each actor’s ability to carry on at that pace."
The Fourth Walsh
- Recommended
"...Director Anna D. Shapiro masterfully drives this lampoon from witty to wacky to wildly absurd. Act One starts out slow with a delightful Ora Jones (Dotty) messing up her lines, her cues and her sardines. And because it’s a British play, the exchanges between her and the acerbic-tongued Rick Holmes (Lloyd/Director) are peppered with ‘love’ and ‘precious’ as Holmes redirects her again and again. When Gary (played by Understudy David Lind) enters the scene, he adds to the amusement with nonsensical questions and unwavering support of Jones’ mishaps. The rehearsal breaks as the cast and crew gather onstage. Although Holmes is trying to focus them on the pending premiere, the stage whispering is all about the secrets going on behind the scenes."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Helmed by former artistic director Anna Shapiro in a joint production with L.A.'s Geffen Playhouse, this oft-performed comedy may at first seem an odd match for Steppenwolf, which typically likes its humor dark. But this combined Chicago / L.A. troupe knows how to handle each pratfall, each door slam, and each ubiquitous plate of sardines to deliver the inspired silliness that has delighted audiences since the show's 1982 London debut."
Chicago Theater and Arts
- Recommended
"...A rather incompetent troupe of actors are expertly portrayed by a considerably expert cast in Steppenwolf's revival of Michael Frayn's classic British comedy, "Noises Off." Directed by Anna D. Shapiro the farce kicks off the ensemble theater company's 49th season."
Chicago On Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...To be sure, the director and actors have created their own embellished versions of Frayn's characters. Belinda, for example, moves with such comic exaggeration that merely watching her walk is hilarious. Fink's Brooke is utterly manic, bouncing from moment to moment with no rationale other than that's how she was blocked. Stewart's Tim feels like a put-upon everyman as he runs around trying to fix whatever he can, yet he remains just this side of insanity."
MaraTapp.org
- Recommended
"...Who doesn’t need a good laugh? Steppenwolf’s latest somewhat atypical offering of the British farce Noises Off comes as a welcome tonic in these tense times."
Chicago Culture Authority
- Recommended
"...Steppenwolf has a well-deserved reputation for producing bold, risk-taking plays. Its choice to present the dated British farce Noises Off in more or less straightforward suburban dinner theater fashion as its season opener seems at first, and perhaps second, blush to be decidedly off-brand. But when you think about it, zigging when everyone expects you to zag feels very Steppenwolf in its own way."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Three plays within a play, like Russian nesting dolls, Noises Off spoofs the very genre of live theater. We are watching the first night, mid-run and last show of a 3rd rate ensemble piece portraying a crummy cast- but performed by one of the best companies in the business. It’s not always possible to tell which actor is acting, which actress is playing herself, which character is a character. The stage does a 360 degree turn in the second act, showing us the set from behind, sandwiched between two acts with the stage stage-front."
BroadwayWorld
- Highly Recommended
"...Michael Frayn’s NOISES OFF is a genuinely funny homage to classic British farce, replete with more doors and sardines than seems humanly possible. Former Steppenwolf Artistic Director Anna D. Shapiro has returned to direct this increasingly chaotic 1982 farce-within-a-farce."
NewCity Chicago
- Recommended
"...In addition to laughs, “Noise Off” induces deep gratitude for theater and those who bless us with it. Playing klutzy nincompoops caught in their underwear isn’t for sissies and takes intelligence inversely proportional to the scripted idiocy. In addition to Jones, the strong cast includes Steppenwolf regulars (in their play-within-a-play roles) Audrey Francis and James Vincent Meredith as a rich ex-pat couple who secretly return to England for a romantic vacation but fear discovery, Amanda Fink as the sexpot who spends most of the show in her vintage grundies, and Francis Guinan as the somnolent sot who can’t make a timely entrance. Andrew Leeds, of Los Angeles’ The Groundlings, is the hapless con man."
