Is 'Noises Off' a Good Show for High Schoolers?

Depends how advanced the kids are.

Its a great play and I think it could be done in a high school as long as the actors are REALLY dedicated. A big part of it relies on precision and timing - if it was done amaturely it would range from being either really lame or genuinely dangerous.

I know some high schools that it'd be perfect fir, and some that should avoid it like the plague. You know your students better than me :-)

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Max: Up to your necks in security: How can love survive?

The hardest thing about Noises Off is the set--it has to be able to be turned around. I saw a local production of it, and, let me say, it was a lot of work to change the set after each act. Lots of stairs, doors, and it has to be sturdy.

As another poster stated, it doesn't work unless your actors have great timing. If it is too slow it will be like death.

Two plays that have large casts are You Can;t Take it With You and The man Who Came to Dinner. The Man . . . has a Christmas theme, but doesn't have to be done at Christmas.

One of the female characters of Noises Off must run around in pretty scanty lingerie, but I suppose it can be changed a little. There is sexual innuendo as well, I believe one of the characters reveals that she is pregnant by the director.

See the movie, it's my favorite Christopher Reeve performance. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105017/

Es ist mir scheiß egal.

When I was a senior in high school they did Noises Off and I wasn't in it, I thought the production turned out really badly, I mean being in high school it's very difficult to have actors that are actually good enough for the roles.

I'll tell you the truth here, and espicially if you are pondering this because of the cast size because usually you do plays with a bigger cast:
I auditioned for the show and I was a senior, there were 4 senior girls who tried out. Three of which (including myself) were committed to the drama program, one of which had only done one show. THe other girls who tried out were younger. I got cut. They cast the other three seniors and one junior, I was the senior they cut. When I came to the directors crying they told me 'Well, we knew we would have to cut one of the seniors, and that was, unforuntly, you.' The junior who got cast hadn't done any plays, one of the seniors had only done one. This was tough.
I'm still with acting and I KNOW that a huge part of it is rejection. But this was a high school drama club! I put in hours and hours in my early high school career to this club and was cut out my last year.
I was very upset, and I wouldn't want someone in your club/class to be as upset as I was when my school did this show. If you feel like you can work around it, maybe the show is for you. It's hard because the kids are so young adn it is different from a more professional theatre. I just remember how disheartened I was, and just think about that when choosing.


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