Writer: Noël Coward
Director: Tanuja Amarasuriya
This production of Private Lives is made possible by The RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award which gives directors, in this case Tanuja Amarasuriya, the chance to set up a fully realised, mid-scale production of a classic or modern play in a British regional theatre and to take it on tour.
Noël Coward argues very few people are completely normal really, deep down in their private lives and that this determines the level of attraction. The mutually-destructive relationship between Elyot (Chirag Benedict Lobo) and Amanda (Pepter Lunkuse) is characterised by rampant passion and bursts of physical violence leading inevitably to the end of their marriage. Elyot re-marries to Sibyl (Sade Malone) but on their honeymoon is horrified to realise his ex-wife has also re-married to Victor (Ashley Gerlach) and is staying in the same hotel. Despite past experience and their best instincts Elyot and Amanda remain attracted to each other and run off together with their new spouses in hot pursuit.
One tends to associate Noël Coward with upper-class characters making subtle but cruel remarks in cut-glass tones. Director Tanuja Amarasuriya argues this need not be the case and avoids Received Pronunciation and ensures the characters are not homogeneous. The approach does not, however, always get the best from the dialogue. The famous put-down of Sibyl’s birthplace (and by extension Sibyl) ‘’ Very flat, Norfolk’’ is delivered by the actor while facing away from the audience.
Amarasuriya’s direction is at its best when dialogue is avoided. Jodie Cuaresma opens the play in a striking manner as an androgynous singer who might be at home in Cabaret. Amanda reacts to the surprise appearance of Elyot by mouthing a swear word and adjusting her clothes to emphasise her attractiveness. Chirag Benedict Lobo and Pepter Lunkuse perform an excellent dance routine in act two that captures the chemistry between Elyot and Amanda.
Pepter Lunkuse makes Amanda a reserved figure looking down on the other characters except for Elyot. The thorny issue of spousal violence is not ignored but Amanda only shows a hint of its traumatic impact when she remarks on the first occasion she was hit by Elyot. Elyot at no point shows any remorse for his actions; the fact Amanda hits back seems to absolve him of any shame.
Rather than a decent chap Ashley Gerlach plays Victor as a bit of a chump overwhelmed by his dog-like devotion to Amanda. Sade Malone wears an unflattering wig which makes her appear much older than her years but still manages to give Sibyl a gullible wide-eyed child-like personality.
Chirag Benedict Lobo behaves as if in a Bollywood movie or a parody of a Coward play. Rather than sly straight-faced remarks every comment is emphasised by an exaggerated grand gesture or twist of the body or face. It is an extreme approach which does not always work. Act two is always a challenge as the reunited lovers move from being cloyingly affectionate to getting on each other’s nerves. The trick is to show the characters irritating each other without annoying the audience. As Elyot crawls across the floor mewing like a cat it is hard not to wish he would grow up and behave like an adult.
The production is set in the 1930s but Amy Jane Cook’s stylish but chilly art deco set would work just as well in the present day.
The ambition of trying to make Private Lives more relevant to a contemporary audience is impressive but on this occasion the original text resists modernisation.
Runs until 27th September 2025
