Prompt #7--Noises Off

A running motif throughout Noises Off (especially the ends of the acts) would be the curtain lines.  The curtain lines exist on different levels that affect each other throughout the course of the play.  For instance, the curtain line to the first act of the metadramatical farce Nothing On is “When all around is strife and uncertainty, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned plate of sardines!”  Nothing On is essentially designed as a typical older farce, which would very often have curtain lines to bookend a scene. The Nothing On curtain line seems to underscore the action of Noises Off in every act; after all, every time the players perform Nothing On, there is nothing but strife and uncertainty.  There is also the curtain line of the first two acts of Noises Off, in which the director, Lloyd, says “And curtain!”, which is as metatheatrical of a curtain line as there can be.  The final line of the play, however, is a combination of the curtain line of Nothing On and the curtain line of Nothing Off, as the Burglar Selsdon misspeaks his line to say “When all around is strife and uncertainty, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned plate of curtain!” 

            I actually think this line is a great start to understanding the play.  Essentially, the plot of each act is that, no matter what craziness befalls the actors onstage or behind the stage, it will all be over if they finish the act.  The curtain is what saves them, especially in act 3.  The rest of all three acts is pure chaos—truly, it is nothing but strife and uncertainty until the final moments of each act when the curtain comes in.  Specifically, I think that the final moment of the play, in which all actors bring down the curtain as an ensemble, shows the unified cast finally achieving a victory.   Even if the production was terrible and hectic, at least it is over as soon as the curtain hits the stage.