"This is a bit bonkers!"

Noises Off is one of the world’s most performed comedies, but as far as we’re aware, this is the first time it’s been presented in the round. As you can imagine, this brought some very particular challenges for designer Kevin Jenkins!

We caught up with him and director Paul Robinson on the first day of rehearsals.

• What was your first reaction when director Paul Robinson suggested doing Noises Off  in the round?

Kevin: He first approached me five or six years ago to ask me if I thought we could do it – and I suppose my first reaction was ‘this is a bit bonkers!’

Paul: I’ve wanted to direct Noises Off for years. The assumption was that doing it the round was impossible – when I told Michael Frayn about our plans, his response was an amused ‘good luck!'

Kevin was my first choice to design this show – I knew that if anyone had the artistic vision and technical skill to tackle it, it was him. He’s come up with an ingenious set which has really been worth the wait.

• Did you know the show – had you designed it before?

Kevin: I’d heard of it, obviously, but I’d not designed it or even seen it. But I think that coming to it fresh was actually an advantage. It meant that I read it for the first time with the round in mind, rather than having preconceptions, which I think really helped.

It quickly became apparent that there was lots of business around doors, which was obviously going to be the biggest challenge in the round, but it also it became apparent that a lot of the comedy was centred away from the doors. I could see how, once it was put in the round, that comedy became really accessible to everyone in the auditorium. So, yes, there’s stuff that goes on around the doors, but there’s also lots of stuff that goes on in the centre, which makes it such a good play to do in the round.

So, once I’d got past the bonkerness of it, I could see it was going to be good!

• So how did you approach it technically?

Kevin: I think I had to honour the space. A lot of that comes from my work with Alan [Ayckbourn] – I’ve worked with him a lot in the round. To me, the way to make it work was to think that when we’re watching Nothing On [the play within the play], we’re watching a rehearsal in the round for a play that’s going to be performed in the round. So when we go into Act II, and effectively what would normally be the back of the set, we have to see the equivalent of the back of the set here in Scarborough – which is the runround that goes round the outside of the stage. Then I had to figure out how to we transform that concept – it is, effectively, turning the whole thing inside out. I’ve drawn a map for the actors…

The other issue is that, having solved the logistics of it, and knowing which door has to be next to each other depending on which act you’re in, the scene changes need to be really quick. So we’ve got to think about turning all the doors around, swapping doors around between different voms [the entrances onto stage], and transforming what it is a set of furniture for a living room into a set of objects that work backstage. So we’ve had to come up with some ingenious ways of changing, say, a sideboard into a props table and paint trolleys and tool trolleys and so on. The biggest thing was finding an entrance to wardrobe and the dressing rooms, and the best way was to go down through the stage – but we had to hide that [for Act I]. So there’s a big coffee table in Act I which we then take the lid off and it becomes a set of basement steps. That’s been as much a headache as anything else. It’ll be a relief to see it in!

Paul: I can’t wait for audiences to see it. We’ve had so many people say to us: ‘You’re doing Noises Off in the round?? How??!!’ But we’re confident it works.

• Do you think putting it in the round has changed it any way – perhaps refocused the comedy?

Kevin: I think it will to some extent, although it’s difficult to know at this early stage in the rehearsal process. I think there’s some comedic elements that won’t work in quite the same way because of the pacing – but I think it will make some of the other bits more intense and funnier! But obviously, that’s up to Paul. There is a robust logic to it all. And I think that as long as Paul and I, and the actors, understand that, it’ll all be fine!

Paul: And we do! One of the great challenges of farce is the split-second timing, but we’ve assembled an absolutely cracking cast of fine actors with real comedy skills, and superb creative, technical and stage management teams. Now all I have to do is bring it all together…

You can see Kevin's incredible work in Noises Off at the SJT from 9 Aug - 6 Sept. Tickets are from £10 and you can buy them online here, or call Box Office on 01723 370 541.