Noises Off

In past analyses we were required to identify Hornby’s element of progression in our respective scripts of choice. In his terms progression refers to motifs found throughout the text. In Michael Frayn’s Noises Off I found that I found was progression itself. Many of the characters in the play seem to progress the story and themselves through the act of repetition. The entirety of the play is scattered with the repetition and rewording of lines. This happens not only with the second degree characters, like we might have expected, but it also occurs with their first degree characters. The characters would often say something that they were unsure about, go back, restart, and try it again and again until they got it right. For instance, in the first scene we would expect the Actress to second guess her words and actions, but the director also stumbles. “I mean, OK, so he’s the, you know. Fine. But, Dotty, love, you've been playing this part for well, Jesus, Dotty, you know what I mean.( 7)” This repetition and retrying is something we see in their relationships a well. With all this in mind, the tag line that I would us if I were to perform this show would be “once more with feeling.” I think this speaks to the playfulness of the show but also ties back into the idea of progression. The constant reediting and retrying of situation are the characters way of growing. The characters not giving up when at first they don’t succeed is seen throughout the dialogue and story line itself. If I were to name a unifying principle for this show it would definitely have something to do with progression because it is a theme seen in many of the elements of the script, not just the motifs.