And so to the theatre. Last night it was 'Noises Off' Michael Frayn's extremely funny farce about a farce. I think the author's stroke of genius is the structure, which enables him to both have his cake and eat it. The play within the play allows him to incorporate scenes of immense cheesiness which, if played straight, would cause embarrassment to both playwright and actors, but which are nonetheless hilarious. The scenes in the 'real' play allow him to mock the concept of farce through its commentaries on the 'pretend' play whilst at the same time delivering, particularly in the second act, a genuine farce of the highest class. 'Nothing On'. the play being performed by the actors that the actors are playing, falls steadily apart across the three acts from a not terribly good start in the first place. One could put forward all sorts of suggestions as to what that disintegration represents, but given Frayn's well known interest in physics, I would suggest that it is no more than the second law of thermodynamics. Although, on reflection, there isn't actually much more than the second law of thermodynamics anyway.
I mentioned in this blog a few days ago that I was prone to superglue accidents. In 'Nothing On' one of the characters superglues one hand to an income tax demand and the other to a plate of sardines. As Oscar Wilde said "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life".
And yes, trousers are dropped.
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