Celia Imrie, Janie Dee and Robert Glenister will lead the cast of the Old Vic’s forthcoming revival of Michael Frayn’s Olivier Award-winning comedy Nosies Off.
Lindsay Posner’s take on the famous farce plays the Waterloo venue this Christmas, with previews from 3 December. A riotous double bill, Frayn’s comedy hurtles along at breakneck speed as it follows the backstage antics of a touring theatre company as they stumble their way through rehearsals to a shambolic first night and a final disastrous performance.
Imrie is Dotty Otley, an actress playing Mrs Clackett in Nothing On, the shambolic play within a play. Imrie’s most recent London stage outing was in Drama At Inish at the Finborough theatre, while her other theatre credits include Hay Fever at the Rose theatre Kingston and Habeas Corpus at the Donmar Warehouse. The actress is arguably best known for her appearances in television comedies Acorn Antiques, Dinnerladies and Absolutely Fabulous, as well as films including Bridget Jones, Calendar Girls and Hilary And Jackie.
Her co-star Dee is a well known face on the London stage having appeared in numerous plays including this year’s All’s Well That Ends Well at Shakespeare’s Globe, Women In Mind at the Vaudeville theatre and Shadowlands at the Wyndham’s theatre. The actress, who plays Belinda Blair in Noises Off, took home Olivier Awards for her performances in the National Theatre’s 1993 musical Carousel and for her West End appearance in Comic Potential. Dee’s television appearances include Me And Orson Wells and Harold Pinter: A Celebration.
Hustle’s Glenister returns to the stage as Lloyd Dallas, Nothing On’s director. The actor’s extensive television credits include Spooks, Ruby In The Smoke and A Touch Of Frost. Glenister has also appeared in Blue Remembered Hills and Never So Good at the National Theatre, and Measure For Measure, Little Eyolf and The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The raucous production’s cast is completed by Jamie Glover (The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse), Karl Johnson (Frankenstein and The Seafarer at the National Theatre), Aisling Loftus (Spur Of The Moment at the Royal Court), Downton Abbey’s Amy Nuttall and Paul Ready (Time And The Conways, Major Barbara and London Assurance at the National Theatre).
Noises Off will face the press on 13 December and runs until 25 February at the Old Vic.
CM