PRIVATE LIVES
Old Red Lion Theatre
★★★
“the chemistry stemming from close collaboration is unmistakable”
“Can’t live with them, can’t live without them”. The phrase can be traced back to the fifteenth century philosopher, Desiderus Erasmus, but the sentiment is as old as the human race. In more modern times, it is famously associated with Noël Coward’s romantic comedy play, “Private Lives” in which divorced couple, Elyot and Amanda, accidentally find themselves honeymooning at the same French hotel with their new respective spouses. Since its premiere in 1930 it has been revived around the globe on stage, on film, on radio, on television. It’s appeal never dims over time, despite being very much rooted in its own time.
Uprooting it and transplanting it into the 1980s, which is what ‘Roaring Screaming Productions’ have done, is an interesting choice, but an irrelevance that has absolutely no bearing on the play. Coward’s language remains intact – as it should. We are still in the land of ‘cads’ and ‘blustering vexes’ and, with the exception of one American accent, an aristocratic RP predominates. Cassette tapes have replaced the gramophone records (though surely this class of privileged characters would have embraced the new-fangled CD technology by now?), while touches of blue eye shadow and backcombed hair hint at the fashions. But shoehorning snippets of Queen or Dolly Parton into the musical backdrop does not represent a ‘fresh take’ on a classic comedy.
The quartet of actors, though, have a solid sense of the story and characterisation. We all know the absurd plot. Newly married couple Elyot (Joe Poole) and Sibyl (Madeleine Curry) are enjoying cocktails on their hotel balcony during the first night of their honeymoon. In the adjoining suite, Victor (Max Fleming) and Amanda (Rosie Dalton) are starting their new life together. This discovery coincides with Elyot and Amanda realising that they still love each other, so they abandon their respective partners and hotfoot it off to Amanda’s flat in Paris. Pursued, of course, by Victor and Sibyl. The comedy stems from verbal one-upmanship and the repeating cycles of love and hate, occasionally descending into slapstick. So much for love that is “smooth and steady and safe”.
What is often lost in director Georgia Geupel’s staging is the irony. Coward’s text is reliant on nuance, understatement and a musical cadence which here is replaced by simply pumping up the volume. Like the on-set ghetto-blaster, there is only bass and treble, high and low; instead of a fine, multi-band EQ. It works during the climax of Act One which dissolves into a physical brawl, but that should be the exception and not the rule. Dalton’s Amanda is frequently too unhinged and shrieky. The cool, icy snaps are missing. Fleming and Curry capture well the awkwardness of their situation and Poole personifies the charming yet anarchic antagonist, but overall, there is a lack of control. We are in a rugby scrum rather than at a tennis match.
The spirit is unquestionable, however, and the chemistry stemming from close collaboration is unmistakable. The cast are the creatives, all mucking in to create the world they inhabit; even if the Paris apartment resembles a student flat share – but a bit of cash thrown their way would easily rectify that. Geupel also gives us a lovely, fleeting turn as the comically deadpan and disdainful French maid, Louise. A walk-on role with, appropriately, a Walkman attached to her ears. There are some neat touches, but also some questionable choices that are at odds with Coward’s inimitable and effortless wit and language. A crowd pleaser, nonetheless.
PRIVATE LIVES
Old Red Lion Theatre
Reviewed on 5th November 2026
by Jonathan Evans
Photography by Jin Kai Chen
