Wiktionary
n. 1 (context theatre English) sound effects produced offstage. 2 (context by extension English) Something occurring on the margins or periphery of a given event, situation etc.
Wikipedia
Noises Off is a 1982 play by the English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it came in 1970, when Frayn was watching from the wings a performance of The Two of Us, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. He said, "It was funnier from behind than in front, and I thought that one day I must write a farce from behind." The prototype, a short-lived one-act play called Exits, was written and performed in 1977. At the request of his associate, Michael Codron, Frayn expanded this into what would become Noises Off. It takes its title from the theatrical stage direction indicating sounds coming from offstage.
Noises Off is a 1992 comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The screenplay by Marty Kaplan is based on the 1982 play of the same name by Michael Frayn.
An ensemble cast includes Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Marilu Henner, Nicollette Sheridan, Julie Hagerty and Mark Linn-Baker.
Also featured is the final performance of Denholm Elliott, who died that same year.
Usage examples of "noises off".
What Eleanor had seen and heard of these Saxons, from her distant and imperfect vantage-point in Berlin, had been only the faint noises off of a titanic struggle that had been carried out, over several years, in Dresden, between the pro-Brandenburg ministers of Saxony and the pro-Austria von Rö.
He was aware of noises off, which arrived via the pink clouds in his head.
He stared at the fire up at the entrance to the fissure, smoke enshrouding it, irritating his nostrils, and there were noises off in the mine.
Even the noises off the street were hushed and hurried, scurrying footsteps, voice murmurs, the whistle of a freshening wind, nothing like the raucous vigorous blare of most days.
This was a cowardly thing to do, but the car had been making odd noises off and on for the past couple of days-a sort of faint clank clank oh god help me clank I'm dying oh god oh god clank noise-which wasn't covered in the troubleshooting section of the owner's manual.
Given the pomp and posturing surrounding her, she felt like a walk-on in Noises Off.
The load became quieter after a while, but I heard noises off the road, screams mostly and far away.
As I sat there draining the bitter cup, there were noises off stage and my meditations were interrupted by the return of the old ancestor.