Taking farce seriously: behind the scenes of student theatre
Posted:
06 May 2026
Tom Barry in a rehearsal taken by Rachel Mitton.
On the first night of Noises Off, as the house lights dimmed and the familiar pre-show hush settled over the ADC Theatre, Tom Barry sat in the audience with a feeling he knows well but never tires of. “Once the curtain’s up,” he says, “it’s no longer the director’s show. It belongs to the actors and techies. I get to sit there and enjoy it along with everyone else.”
Theatre has flourished at Trinity Hall and across the University for as long as anyone can remember. Generations of students have stepped into rehearsal rooms and onto stages here, some going on to build lives as professional performers, directors, writers and all kinds of creatives. Today’s students are part of the same living tradition that grows through decades of experimentation, ambition and the shared joy in creating something together.
Tom, who arrived at Trinity Hall in 2023 to study physiological sciences, likes to say his journey to directing Noises Off began with a “white whale.” Years ago, he narrowly missed being cast in the play, and ever since, the farce had lingered in his imagination. “The show had become something of a ‘white whale’ in my theatrical consciousness,” he explains. “Both one of the funniest scripts I’d ever read, and also one of the most challenging.” When the ADC Theatre began programming certain shows far in advance, opening up unusually long production periods, the opportunity suddenly seemed real. Eight months of preparation, unheard of in most student theatre timelines, offered the breathing room needed for something technically ambitious. “Given I was about to enter the final year of my undergrad,” he adds, “I figured now was the moment to throw my hat into the ring for one last big directorial outing.” The production opened for a five-night run at the ADC Theatre on 27 January this year.
David Chataway (History, 2024) performing in the role of Selsdon/Burglar in 'Noises Off'. Photograph taken by Anna Gungaloo.
What Tom wanted, above all, was laughter. “I wanted the audience to laugh. At a recent Hesperides Society dinner, I found myself discussing farces with a Trinity Hall alum who is a writer himself. He suggested that The Importance of Being Earnest wasn’t a perfect farce because it drifted too far from reality, and, by that logic, he assumed he wouldn’t enjoy the unapologetically silly world of Noises Off. But to his surprise, he loved it, precisely because it commits so thoroughly to the mechanics and madness of farce. That conversation captured exactly what I hoped people would feel: the delight of watching something so meticulously chaotic that it becomes irresistible. The joy of Noises Off is in its complete dedication to silliness – a show that takes great pleasure in exploring no subject matter at all.”
Directing fellow students, and especially fellow Trinity Hall students, has been one of the great joys of Tom’s time at Cambridge. “It’s rare to be put in any position of power at my age,” he reflects, “let alone a position where fifty people are working endless hours on top of their degrees to enact your personal vision.” Many of his closest friendships began under the bright stage lights and during late night run-throughs. “We are blessed in Trinity Hall with an exceptionally theatrical student body,” he says. Within his year alone, students have taken key roles across Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (Camdram), Footlights and Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society (CUMTS), and students in the years below are already stepping forward to continue the tradition.
The production also offered the chance to revive the ADC’s revolve, the rotating stage element essential for the multi floor, multi angle set of Noises Off. Tom had prepared alternative staging ideas, expecting the revolve might be too complicated to resurrect within student theatre constraints, but a group of four seasoned technical directors stepped forward. “They made it clear they wanted to be the ones to bring the revolve back,” he says with admiration. “The danger with an ever changing student body is that certain skills get lost when people move on. I’m very pleased I could be part of maintaining the collective knowledge on this one extra fun set element.”
Tom is no stranger to the technical side of things. He has spent years getting to know the inner workings of student theatre, taking on all sorts of backstage roles. Earlier this year, he was the Technical Director for Trinity Hall Music Society’s production of Assassins, which was performed in the Lecture Theatre. Working in that space taught him how much the room and equipment shape a show. He mentions the “challenge in the Trinity Hall Lecture Theatre”, a space never designed for the demands of modern performance but used again and again as students find inventive ways to make it work. Experiences in these different spaces shaped the way Tom approached Noises Off, making him even more aware of how collaboration, space and technical problem-solving all feed into the final performance.
The Thursday performance of Noises Off stands out most for Tom, with a sharp, responsive audience and a cast that maintained a deft balance between comfort on stage and energy. “There’s nothing quite like the feeling of sitting in a crowd in stitches at your and the whole company’s work,” he says, “laughing along with them.”
Did you know that as an alum, you can get discounted tickets to watch performances at the ADC Theatre and at the Corpus Playroom?
Remember to also check out your alumni benefits at Trinity Hall.
Images of Noises Off taken by Anna Gungaloo and images of Assassins taken by Rachel Mitton.