I know I am not alone when it comes to buzzes and beeps. Come with me on, what I think, is a familiar journey. There you are, happy in your world full of technology when at the periphery of your hearing comes a sound.

Concentration helps to clarify that you are not imagining it but does nothing to locate it. So you sit there and concentrate harder and still nothing.

By now irritation has crept in and you have to find out what it is. Is it the phone or the computer? Perhaps it’s the washing machine or dishwasher? So you get up and put your ear near the machines and still nothing.

Now there is silence, the beeping has stopped. And you are about to think perhaps you imagined it after all when it starts again. Finally you discover it’s the smoke alarm battery giving its final gasp. All is well.

Our modern world is full of machines that make noise, and each noise demands attention and is difficult to ignore.

Sometimes there are several demands simultaneously; the phone rings, the door bell sounds and your stop clock goes off indicating your egg is perfectly boiled – aahh what to do first? The egg will be hard if you answer the phone first, however you don’t want to miss the person at the door as it may be a delivery...HELP!

These scenarios were the inspiration for playwright Michael Frayn who has written a series of short farces under the title Alarms and Excursions, at Chipping Norton Theatre from 27 February – 12 March.

Alarms deals with the aforementioned unidentifiable buzz and creates a wonderfully funny series of mishaps and misunderstandings around the sound and other technological noises. Listening to the actors reading the play for the first time, on the first day of rehearsals, was side-splittingly funny, because I identified so much with the panic created by several sounds happening at once.

Few modern playwrights create farce as fast-moving and funny as Michael Frayn. His play, Noises Off was a masterpiece of comic timing and Alarms and Excursions uses the same split second timing to powerful effect. It’s fast moving, funny and a real challenge for the actors to get right. Thankfully they have.

Get your tickets for a dose of laughter at Chipping Norton Theatre from 01608 642 350 or chippingnortontheatre.com