More so, when we are in the know that this play-within-a-play&rsquo;s first act is a riotous technical rehearsal with an eccentric cast who are all headed in different directions. <img alt="" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jul/Noises-Off.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 391px;" /> A rehearsal still of Noises Off at Prithvi Theatre. Pic/ Madeeha Attari Before you start musing over the chicken-before-the-egg conundrum, let&rsquo;s bring you up to speed. Noises Off is a comical farce written by Michael Frayn who premises the plot on a zealous and high-strung director, Lloyd Dallas who is trying to put together actors that are perched up on their respective hobbyhorses. Accenting the madness, the poor Lloyd is set to bring a sex comedy, mischievously titled, Nothing On, to life. <img border="0" height="1" src="http://web.ventunotech.com/beacon/vtpixpc.gif?pid=1264&amp;pixelfrom=op" style="-webkit-user-select:none;border:0px;" width="1" /> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="325" id="ventuno_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="405"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.ventunotech.com/vtn_player_2.swf?vID=MTM5OTQxfHwxMjY0fHw0MTd8fDEsMiwx" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" height="325" src="http://player.ventunotech.com/vtn_player_2.swf?vID=MTM5OTQxfHwxMjY0fHw0MTd8fDEsMiwx" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="405"></embed> </object> So as we perch on the Prithvi blue benches, Atul Kumar struts into the room hollering to get the rehearsal going. After a few hiccups with the sound, a perky actress enters on stage playing the comely stereotype of Dotty the housekeeper. She answers the phone as is her duty, but with the momentous click, the confusion over a newspaper, receiver and the lovely sardines ensues as poor Dotty has only two hands and a goofy mind to boot. <img alt="" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jul/Atul-Kumar.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 413px;" /> Cutting through the cacophony, Lloyd sits amongst the audience yelling instructions at Dotty. Somewhere around Tariq Vasudeva&rsquo;s Freddy who is trying to put the empty apartment to good use with his wife is stuck between doors that won&rsquo;t close and open. As the cast loses itself to craziness, poor Lloyd exclaims, &ldquo;Life is all about doors and sardines.&rdquo; Chuckling over the fishy comment, the boisterous Kumar tells Lloyd, &ldquo;You know how directors are, while explaining they are almost jumping onto stage.&rdquo; And, as is the director&rsquo;s wont, Kumar in the blink of an eye, is on stage. Why Noises Off we asked when Kumar caught his breath between the madness, &ldquo;It is one of my favourite comedies about life and doings of a theatre group and backstage activity where everything that can go wrong goes wrong thereby making it absolutely hilarious.&rdquo; Methodical, rigorous and indefatigable, Kumar flits between cajolement and reproach throughout the rehearsal. No wonder then The Company Theatre&rsquo;s Kamshet space is a much-needed sanctuary for Kumar to work on his plays including Noises Off. Commenting on the backstage hysteria, Kumar opines, &ldquo;All my plays have had a much more backstage world than the on stage performance. Half of the reason why people do theatre is because of this backstage energy and ethos.&rdquo; Further, Kumar confesses, &ldquo;I fell in love with theatre because I loved the lights around the mirror in greenrooms, my seven-year-old daughter takes hours putting on make-up and costumes and hanging out with actors in green rooms and wings for hours and finally, when she comes on stage she starts feeling sleepy&hellip;that is so lovely.&rdquo; With production being a major challenge, the team has built an elaborate set to ensure that the sardines don&rsquo;t put a no-show and the doors would definitely close. <h2 class="footer_style"> On: Today and tomorrow, 11 am At: Prithvi Theatre, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Juhu. Call: 26149546 u00a0</h2>

Have a great hair day even in the rain. Here's how...

The talented Atul Kumar has picked up Michael Frayn's Noises Off, a farce about backstage bungles. With the show making its debut this weekend, Kanika Sharma stole a peek behind the curtains at this latest The Company Theatre production

"All about doors and sardines"

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"All about doors and sardines"

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