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Manchester, Chorlton: Play Acting and Farce
Michael Frayn's Noises Off was hailed by critic Frank Rich who said it: "is, was, and probably always will be the funniest play written in my lifetime." It is a classic bedroom farce based on a play within a play with the same action shown three times. A flyer like the one above has come through the door. If you plan to go, look away now as all will be revealled (source):Act One is set at the dress rehearsal, the night before opening ... with the cast still fumbling with entrances and exits, missed cues, misspoken lines, and bothersome props, most notably several plates of sardines.
Act Two portrays a Wednesday matinee performance one month later ... In this act, the play is seen from backstage, providing a view that reveals the deteriorating personal relationships among the cast that have led to offstage shenanigans and onstage bedlam.
In Act Three, we see a performance near the end of the ten-week run ... when personal friction has continued to increase and everyone is bored and anxious to be done with the play. The actors attempt to cover up a series of mishaps but only compound the problems and draw attention to the bungling performance.
Much of the comedy emerges from the subtle variations in each version as off-stage chaos affects on-stage performance, with a great deal of slapstick. The contrast between players' on-stage and off-stage personalities is also a source of comic dissonance.
Oh, and a leaflet from another bunch of play actors arrives delivered by the same hands. Full of comic dissonance caused by the contrast between the truth and what is presented. Cllr John Leech MP and for all LOL know Cllr Ankers are members of the Manchester Road Players and of the local Libdemologists whose bleary Focus this is..
Listing: Weds 23 - Sat 26 May, curtain 7:30, £4.50 (£3.00) Manchester Road Methodist Church Hall. £1 off with flyer. See your MP and his chums lying and back-biting live on stage.
3 comments:
Should be called gloves off, and that should be Manchester Labour. the Lib dems are lying and fibbing and cheating all over Manchester. Despise the electorate too.
Yes, one member at a branch where we had nominally lost a seat, or they had held depending on how you look at it; asked whether they (the Lib Dems) are allowed to lie, cheat and steal. On the lying there really is little to be done. And on the cheating and stealing there seems little hope of the Elkectoral Commission ever doing anything about overspending and the rest of it.
I suppose we need (a) some longer range campaigning about Lib Dem dishonesty; and
(b) to campaign for a rule under which repetition of statements proved false (e.g. Christie hoax, bin hoax) is an offence and leaflets get pulped and both candidates and agents personally fined for an electoral offence at the highest permitted level (i.e. £5000 for each offence, each); and (c) where a reasonable person believes a party is using tax payers money to campaign (vide Leech's parliamentary report) or going outside their area there are robust fines and other penalities e.g. candidates getting disqualified, MPs having to pay back tax money AND pay all other contesting parties the same amount to produce extra print.
I'd like to refer you to (b) and (c) above and also your promise below to make corrections:
"I rarely delete comments and will generally carry corrections and observations prominently on request. This time, and every time, it's personal." - Chris Paul (on the left bar of your blog).
Chris, you have repeatedly made an erroneous assertion the John Leech paid for leaflets using taxpayers money which were delivered outside of his constituency.
This is categorically untrue, and therefore you have no evidence to support it. The leaflets you have received (and for clarity for other readers you do not live in Manchester Withington Constituency) were not paid for by the tax payer, but instead paid for from other funds.
I would therefore respectfully request you both to withdraw such comments, and prominently display that withdrawal.
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