Celia Imrie, Janie Dee & Robert Glenister et al to Lead Cast of NOISES OFF at Old Vic

Jonathan Coy, Janie Dee, Robert Glenister, Jamie Glover, Celia Imrie, Karl Johnson, Aisling Loftus, Amy Nuttall and Paul Ready have been cast in Michael Frayn's irresistible, multi-award-winning backstage comedy Noises Off, directed by Linsday Posner, which previews from 3 December, with a press night on 13 December 2011.

Winner of both Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Comedy, this celebrated play serves up a riotous double bill - a play within a play. Hurtling along at breakneck speed it follows the backstage antics of a touring theatre company as they stumble their way through rehearsals to a shambolic first night and a final disastrous performance.

Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933 and began his career as a journalist on The Guardian and The Observer. His plays include Copenhagen, Afterlife, Benefactors, Donkeys' Years and Democracy, for which he received The Evening Standard Best Play award. His novel, Spies, was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize (2002) and won the Whitbread Award for Fiction (2002). Headlong was shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize, the Whitbread Novel Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. Other novels include Towards the End of the Morning, The Trick of It and A Landing on the Sun, as well as The Tin Men, Now You Know and Sweet Dreams. His most recent book, My Father's Fortune: A Life was published by Faber & Faber in September 2010 and shortlisted for the 2010 Costa Biography Award and winner of the PEN/Ackerley Prize 2011.
Lindsay Posner was Associate Director at The Royal Court Theatre from 1987 to 1992 where his production of Death and The Maiden won two Laurence Olivier Awards. His other theatre credits include Butley starring Dominic West (Duchess Theatre), An Ideal Husband starring Samantha Bond and Rachel Stirling (Vaudeville), House of Games (Almeida), Fool For Love starring Juliette Lewis (Apollo Theatre), Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge starring Ken Stott (Duke of York's, nominated for four Olivier Awards), Carousel (Savoy), Fiddler on The Roof (Sheffield and Savoy), Tom and Viv, The Hypochondriac and Romance (Almeida), A Life in the Theatre (Apollo), the world premiere of Power by Nick Dear and Tartuffe (National Theatre), Twelfth Night, Volpone, The Taming of the Shrew and The Rivals (RSC).

Jonathan Coy plays Frederick Fellowes who plays Phillip Bent and the Sheikh. Jonathan has worked extensively in theatre, and played Leonato in the recent and much-acclaimed production of Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant and Catherine Tate. Other work on stage includes A Month in the Country at Chichester Festival Theatre, and at The National Theatre, The Power of Yes and Democracy which was directed by Michael Blakemore. Television credits include Downton Abbey, Foyle's War, Doc Martin and the BBC/HBO series, Rome.

Janie Dee plays BeLinda Blair who plays Flavia Bent. Janie is an award-winning theatre and musical theatre actress who recently appeared in All's Well That Ends Well at Shakespeare's Globe. Her work on stage has earned her the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Carousel, directed by Nicholas Hytner at The National Theatre, and the Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics' Circle Best Actress Awards for the lead role in Comic Potential in the West End and on Broadway. She has worked extensively with writer and director Alan Ayckbourn, originating the roles of Joanna in House and Garden, and Amanda in Dreams From a Summerhouse, and Peter Hall has directed Janie in Much Ado About Nothing, Betrayal and Design For Living. Television credits include Me and Orson Welles, and Harold Pinter: A Celebration.