The Albert Room of the Grand Hotel provides the setting for Something Witty Theatre’s production of Noël Coward’s comedy of manners, reflecting the fashion and style of the 1930s.
To set the mood, the audience are served cocktails on arrival.
The play tells of divorced couple, Elyot and Amanda, who meet by chance on their respective honeymoons with new spouses, fall in love again and flee to Paris together, where they discover what it was that caused them to part in the first place.
The length of the room dictates the use of transom staging, which works well in the first act but is less successful for the Paris scenes. The actors’ constant charging from one end to the other is like watching Wimbledon.
Daniel Lane’s Elyot differs from the usual interpretation. It is more Bohemian than the usual ultra-sophisticated portrayal. The façade of elegance is interspersed with sneering, petulance and camp mannerisms.
There are strong performances from Rebecca Cooper and Jason Blackwater as the new spouses, but the star performance comes from Heather Rayment as Amanda. The spirit of the age is truly captured as she brings this madcap creation to life – all the vivaciousness is there, as well as the devilmay- care attitude to life. A long-staying memory will be her galloping leap, with dress hitched up, from one balcony to another.
More attention to detail would restore some missing elegance. Reservations apart, the production offers much to enjoy and savour.
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