First seen at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith in 1982 before transferring to the West End's Savoy Theatre in a production directed by Michael Blakemore, it was subsequently recreated on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in 1983. It won the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and the Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year and was nominated for the 1984 Tony Award for Best Play. A subsequent National Theatre production in 2000, directed by Jeremy Sams, transferred to the West End's Piccadilly Theatre and then Broadway, again at the Atkinson, in 2001.

The Old Vic's new production will be directed by Lindsay Posner and designed by Peter McKintosh. According to press materials, this "play-within-a-play follows the amateur touring production of a dreadful sex comedy Nothing On, as it travels around the country. From the disastrous dress rehearsal with the cast still fumbling with entrances and exits and bothersome props, to the final performance of missed cues and forgotten lines, Noises Off portrays the explosive personal relationships that have led to off-stage shenanigans and on-stage bedlam."

Posner, who was previously associate director at the Royal Court from 1987 to 1992 where his productions included the original staging of Death and the Maiden (soon, coincidentally, to be revived in the West End by the Royal Court's current deputy director Jeremy Herrin), was most recently represented in the West End by his revivals of Butley, An Ideal Husband, Fool for Love, A View from the Bridge, Carousel and Fiddler on the Roof.

To book tickets, contact the box office on 0844 871 7628, or visit www.oldvictheatre.com for more details.