★★★★

“this production places Coward’s inherent humour, intelligence and wit fully under the spotlight”

Noël Coward’s romantic comedy play, “The Marquise”, was already his thirteenth full-length play – written at the tender age of twenty-eight. Up to that point, his work always had a contemporary setting, but this latest offering (which he himself described as a ‘tenuous, frivolous little piece’) found him exploring the early eighteenth century, just outside Paris. Philip Wilson’s revival keeps the action in France but takes it back to more familiar Coward territory in which we find ourselves immersed in the glamour of the 1930s. Tuxedos and taffeta adorn the stage as the houselights fade, revealing the art deco splendour of Colin Falconer’s streamlined set. We are in the lacquered interior of Raoul de Vriaac’s chateau, celebrating the engagement of his daughter Adrienne to the son of his old friend, Esteban.

At first, the transposition is a seemingly inspired choice made by Wilson, who directs with the panache and fluidity of a Coward connoisseur. But then again, it is also an obvious choice given the character of the quintessential dialogue; the beauty of which wouldn’t be out of place set in today’s world either. Wilson was also granted permission from the Noël Coward Estate to implement another (minor) tweak that further delivers the play from its more censored origins.

Frivolous it may be. Tenuous it certainly isn’t. The company give robust and convincing performances as they negotiate class divides while bridging the gap between the two World Wars. While the majority are still wallowing in the Roaring Twenties, patriarch Raoul is letting his mindset drift into the Great Depression. Simon Shepherd plays the misanthrope with subtle humour. Memories of the past disturb Raoul, whereas Esteban delights in the shared recollections of their debauchery. Tristan Gemmill is a silver fox, teasing his partner in crime while still holding onto the threadbare affection. Their respective children – Adrienne (Eva O’Hara) and Miguel (Barnaby Tobias) – are rebelling against the marriage their fathers have arranged for them. Adrienne is in love with Raoul’s secretary, Jacques (Albie Marber) while Miguel has fallen for a dancer in Paris.

The ensuing mix of recriminations and outrages is thrown into further disorder by the emergence of the Marquise Eloise de Kestournel. In a role that could have been written for her, Juliet Aubrey lights up the stage. She is fire and ice. The romantic and the pragmatist rolled into a cool stillness, remaining unruffled as she reveals old secrets to her two old flames. Shepherd and Gemmill, in turn, are funny and furious in their comic outrage as the revelations come to the surface.

After the interval, the style becomes more mixed. Classic Coward humour gives way to (almost) farcical scenes. In addition, there are shades of Ibsen, along with vivid splashes of Wilde. Yet the whole is never clumsy, nor contrived, even when the finale looms into plain sight. A couple of anachronisms could potentially jar; such as a fencing duel between Raoul and Esteban which is an unlikely scenario in this setting, but the two actors pull it off with their ability to mix comedy and rage with playful affection. And, of course, a Coward comedy is incomplete without a bit of music. Largely absent throughout – despite the presence of a grand piano – Aubrey eventually gets to showcase her talents further during the closing moments. A melancholy little tune, played and sung alone, slowly shapeshifts into a glorious ensemble sequence. It is a magical moment, veering off-piste slightly, but a clear signpost for the eventual coupling of these disparate characters.

“The Marquise” is one of Coward’s lesser performed plays. Transporting it to the 1930s is not merely an inspired choice; it also puts the story back where it belongs, allowing its flair to flourish. It doesn’t just shed light on family secrets and scandals, but this production places Coward’s inherent humour, intelligence and wit fully under the spotlight. Sense of style, and sense of humour, are a perfect match.

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF at the Garrick Theatre

★★★

“the work feels constrained by its loyalty to the original series”

James Graham’s latest stage play following smash hit ‘Dear England’ is another piece that seeks to show us something about the state of the nation, albeit this time from a historical, rather than contemporary, lens. Boys from the Blackstuff is an adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s 1982 TV drama, considered among the best TV dramas of the twentieth century and currently available on BBC iPlayer. Now playing at the Garrick Theatre after transferring from the Liverpool Royal Court via the National Theatre, it’s a piece that attempts to both act as a faithful homage to the much-loved series, whilst introducing the blackstuff to younger audiences more likely to assume it’s in reference to the decline of mining towns than out of work tarmac layers.

Despite some suggestions that the play is just as relevant today, if not more so, than it was on TV release in 1982, this is most definitely a period piece. Unemployment in the UK in the early 1980s reached more than 10%, a far cry from the current national average of 4%. But in Liverpool, unemployment reached a whopping 20%, double the national average, following the collapse of the shipping industry and shedding of workers by major employers that were or still are common household names: United Biscuits, Tate and Lyle, Kellogg’s and Schweppes. Whilst this trend of higher-than-average unemployment persists in Liverpool today, the scale of the challenge is incomparable to what was experienced some 40 years ago.

Some of the underlying causes for this are explored in the play with characters providing theories from economics to geography. But ultimately, the ensemble piece shows how all the boys: Chrissie, Yosser, George, Dixie, Loggo and Snowy; are all most concerned with how they will survive, quite literally, as breadwinners for their families.

It takes a while for each of the characters to develop beyond surface level for several reasons. In Act One, the too short scenes are punctuated by over-choreographed set changes accompanied by the singing of an adapted Irish folk song, meaning conversations feel stunted. Time is also given to comic moments seemingly dropped in from the series that are not particularly sophisticated but got big laughs from the crowd.

All this results in a simplisitic portrayal of ‘good’ boys just trying to provide for themselves and their families picking up casual work and claiming the giro vs. the evil staff at the Department for Employment. Things do improve in Act Two, but it’s too long coming, meaning when Snowy dies after being chased by the dole-snoopers, we know too little about him to really care.

The most developed character is Yosser Hughes (Barry Sloane), the most forceful and fearsome of the group. Sloane’s portrayal of a man in the midst of a mental breakdown is rousing, aided by Kate Wasserberg’s choice to have him speak to his kids without them appearing on stage in an otherwise realist piece. This is explained at the show’s climax to devastating effect. But alongside this quite tragic arc, Sloane must continually regurgitate Yosser’s ‘gizza job’ catch phrase, which again may work on TV spread out over many episodes, but wore thin after it’s umpteenth hearing.

One of the piece’s saving grace’s is Amy Jane Cook’s set and costume design which feels fresh and exciting, with ominous cranes like fossilized relics of Liverpool’s once glorious past towering over the action. But on the whole, the work feels constrained by its loyalty to the original series, with the potential for more tension and drama in a more radical interpretation, rather than the apparently faithful condensation of a five-part series to a 2.5-hour stage production.

Tag Archives: Alastair Muir

THE MARQUISE

★★★★

UK Tour

THE MARQUISE

Theatre Royal Windsor

★★★★

“this production places Coward’s inherent humour, intelligence and wit fully under the spotlight”

THE MARQUISE

Theatre Royal Windsor then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 1st June 2026

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Alastair Muir

THE MARQUISE

THE MARQUISE

THE MARQUISE

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF

★★★

Garrick Theatre

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF at the Garrick Theatre

★★★

“the work feels constrained by its loyalty to the original series”