Private Lives
The Barn Theatre Southwick
Written by Noel Coward
A Dionysus Theatre production
Founder and Artistic Director Robert Tremayne
Directed by Vicky Newman
Private Lives is no stranger to the world’s stages. In 1929 during a tour of Asia Noël Coward contracted ‘flu and during his recovery in Shanghai wrote the play over a period of just 4 days, after the initial drafts. Since then it has been performed dozens of times, initially for its London run in 1930 featuring Gertrude Lawrence and Lawrence Olivier, with Coward himself playing Elyot. Subsequently it opened on Times Square New York to an enthusiastic reception. High octane performances followed, starring – amongst many others – Joan Collins, Kim Cattrall, Anton Lesser and Alan Rickman (still sadly missed). Most notably though from Burton and Taylor, no strangers to turbulent relationships, both on and off stage; Toby Stephens and Anna Chancellor (off the scale in brilliantly smoldering passion) and more recently, in 2021, Nigel Havers and Patricia Hodge. However, I acknowledge absolutely the importance of continuous progression in theatre productions, so I do not judge too harshly.
Given that Private Lives will be celebrating its centenary in 5 years’ time, it remains as popular as ever, and is pure Coward, love him or hate him. Some simply do not recognise the qualities in his writing and dismiss him as shallow, whilst others adore his pithy put downs, shatteringly clever witticisms and biting cynicism. I am in the latter camp, believing Coward to be the Oscar Wilde of the 20th century, one of the most quoted prominent wordsmiths we know. One of these quotes ‘I love criticism just so long as it’s unqualified praise’ he would probably like applied to this play. For the most part I have agreed each time I’ve seen it on stage, however in 2025 it can appear outdated to some demographics, especially if performed using the starchy affected English received pronunciation prevalent in 1930.
The plot of Private Lives is simple: a 4 hander piece, with the French maid Louise, here played by the director Vicky Newman, and is also Robert Tremayne’s multi-talented mum, delivering a delicious short performance towards the end of the second act.
Elyot Chase (Robb Tremayne) and Amanda Prynne (Lauren Whedbee) are a glamorous, rich, erstwhile reckless married couple, having left behind their lusty, tempestuous marriage. Five years later, whilst on their individual second honeymoons with new, very contrasting, spouses, they find themselves ensconced in adjoining suites in a French hotel. The cracks in both new marriages, become glaringly obvious in the opening sequences in the play, notwithstanding this is their honeymoon night. Soon they discover their immediate proximity to one another and after a bit of the old sparring, rekindle their passion, immediately planning a renewed future for themselves, thoughtlessly planning a return to their former union, without a care for their recently acquired new partners.
Kelly Verstappen (as Sibyl, the new Mrs Chase) gives us a fine performance in the first act as a weak, whiny, clinging wife, cowed by her husband who takes full advantage of these traits. Mr Tremayne’s entrance on stage immediately makes us despise his bullying ways, taking advantage of his new wife’s shortcomings and giving the character a frightening cruelty of the worst kind, which I’ve not witnessed in previous productions. Robert Tremayne performs his role with absolute relish, his gestures and wickedly glinting eyes give us an Elyot who is haughty, vindictive, and downright nasty, bordering on the psychopathic. Throughout the whole play he throws everything – including the kitchen sink – into the role, and his gusto never wanes. Good to see that Elyot is also capable of feeling profound love, with at times a dollop of tenderness thrown in.
The moment the first Mrs Chase, Amanda, (Lauren Whedbee) makes her appearance on stage it is manifestly apparent that she is, and always has been the true match for Elyot. Strong and single minded, she clearly takes no prisoners. Lauren is a superb character actor and gives us the perfect Amanda. Her second husband Victor (David Upcraft) is, like Sibyl, portrayed as a love struck, fawning lover, a nice man, but clearly not in Elyot’s league.
What follows is chaos, confusion and a combination of high comedy mixed with impending disaster, which in this production never flags. Each actor was well cast, delivering immaculate dialogue, and great projection (very important, especially given the amount of it!) Originally the play was in 3 acts. This was just 2, and arguably the first act (one and a half hours) was a little long, with the second act being just 45 minutes. I’m sure there are production reasons for this, however I felt possibly the Paris scenes required a clean break from the opening Deauville one, as in the original version. However, the complex scene change was nothing short of brilliant, performers working as a seemingly choreographed unit. Very impressive.
I was delighted that during the second act, the dynamics of the couples changed hugely and Kelly Verstappen and David Upcraft were given a chance to shine, flexing their acting muscles and giving us a comic feistiness which was a delight to witness. The explosive scenes with Elyot and Amanda, and subsequently when Sibyl and Victor discovered them together in Paris were hilarious, again cleverly choreographed.
The costumes were absolutely stunning, the dresses heavy with sequins and hair with feathers, a 1930’s feast to the eye, so congratulations for this welcome attention to detail.
This production of Private Lives is never short of the razor sharp wit so redolent of Noël Coward, with much added over-the-top comedic drama, on occasion verging on farce, a jolly romp of a comedy of manners, with excellent performances all round. It is evident that the Dionysus Theatre Company is above all a team who genuinely love and respect not just what they do, but one another too.
Coward himself would have been proud.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.5 hours including interval
Touring
Reviewer: Gill Ranson