It was all terribly, terribly witty, with lots of word play and quips, endless cigarettes and whiskies, the sparkling chattering theatrical class with their openness about sex and each other's lives. It was great fun and Alex Jennings was excellent as the world weary actor obviously based on Coward. In a way it was a good old-fashioned drawing room farce (without trousers falling down) lifted by Coward's writing.
Alex along with Sara Stewart as his (ex) wife and Sarah Woodward as his secretary made a fun triumvirate at the centre of the play, having known each other for years and comfortable with sharing intimate secrets and trusting one another. The word play was quick and deftly handled by each of them in clipped '40s fashion, closing ranks on outsiders daring to try to get into their clique. I'm not sure I'd like to know the characters in real life, but they were a dream to watch.
The only disappointment was that the ushers packed away the ice-cream too soon so I had to do without at the interval. Drat.
And here's a photo of the set that so intrigued me last night - it looks better at the start of the play when there are piles of books all over the room but you get the idea.
No comments:
Post a Comment