PRIVATE LIVES. To 6 October.

Manchester

PRIVATE LIVES
by Noel Coward.

Library Theatre To 6 October 2007.
Mon-Thu 7.30pm Fri-Sat 8pm Mat Thu & Sat 3pm.
Audio-described 27 Sept 3pm, 6 Oct 3pm.
Captioned 5 Oct.
Pre-show Talk 4 Oct 3pm.
Runs 2hr 20min One interval.

TICKETS: 0161 236 7110.
www.librarytheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 25 September.

Talented amusement never falls flat.
Noel Coward’s 1930 comedy of divorcees re-meeting on their second honeymoons has been viewed as a piece for two stars, a pair of supporting actors and a comic cameo. It’s doubtful Library Theatre director Chris Honer would agree. Even briefly-seen Parisian maid Louise, visibly suffering from her cold, is integral to his production in her bad-temper at the state of Amanda and Elyot’s flat the morning after their fight.

Neither second spouse can match Elyot and Amanda. Isla Carter’s Sybil tries little-wife tricks (till surface poise gives way to gawky petulance), but is perplexed at Elyot’s unorthodoxy, while Philip Rham’s Victor registers alarm the moment Amanda talks of gambling (all Victor’s feelings register visibly).

Initially James Wallace’s Elyot appears too effortful, Phillipa Peak’s Amanda too modern in tone. But it wouldn’t be civil to quibble, for both combine humour (I’ve never heard so much audience laughter at this play) with a strong sense of intimacy in the Paris acts. His open shirt, their bodies draped across furniture, the physical familiarity with each other, all suggest a long-time relationship being resumed.

Vitally, Honer makes clear boredom is the thing these high-temperament people cannot stand. Twice they keep the lid on their arguments. But when boredom replaces anger, their little world explodes. The play’s ending restores their equilibrium as they’re able to perform again, or be entertained by others.

Elyot’s comment about making strange noises offends others, but sends Amanda into spasms of hilarity And when their other, brief halves begin rowing it provides the chance to escape their dreariness, but also the delight of being entertained as they watch, indulging in a bite of brioche or a cigarette.

The play emerges as a 20th-century Taming of the Shrew, with a couple that torture each other but are utterly frustrated apart. Along with Honer’s penetrating direction, Dawn Allsopp’s elegant settings enhance the action. And Philipa Peak’s Amanda, with its flecks and flashes of detail, physical responsiveness and emphasised final consonants suggesting energy in moments of repose, dispatched like sniper-bullets when roused, is a performance of great physical firepower in a scorching production.

Sybil: Isla Carter.
Elyot: James Wallace.
Amanda: Phillipa Peak.
Victor: Philip Rham.
Louise: Margot Courtemanche.

Director: Chris Honer.
Designer: Dawn Allsopp.
Lighting: Jason Taylor.
Sound: Jon Nicholls, Paul Gregory.
Music Director: JonNicholls.
Dance: Geoff Steer.
Fight director: Renny Krupinski.

2007-09-26 11:33:29