Back row: Rhiannon Nicolson, Ben Sansum,
director Kath Gill,
James Wood, Ceri Nicolson.
Front row: Phillipa Dadd, Holly Thomas
"I think very few people are completely normal really, deep down in their private lives..."
Private Lives is a prime example of the sophisticated comedies of Noel Coward. It was an overwhelming critical and commercial success when it was first produced in 1930, and it has continued to entertain audiences for well over half a century.
The action of the play concerns a divorced couple, Elyot and Amanda, who meet on their respective honeymoons to second spouses. They realise that they are still in love with each other and should never have divorced; they abandon their new spouses and run off together, though they are soon caught up in the same violent arguments that originally plagued their stormy marriage. This madcap situation provides all the structure Coward requires to display his eccentric wit and deft comedic stagecraft. It lampoon the hypocrisies and pretensions of modern manners and social conventions and seek true love regardless of the cost to their reputations. The plot moves from misfortune to full-blown absurdity before tragedy has time to take hold, and even then, it has barely arrived before it is once again replaced with witticism and humour. Prone to cynicism and irreverence, his glamorous upper-class characters seem incapable of taking much of anything seriously for very long…
The Lane End Players' sparkling production of Private Lives, directed by Kath Gill, opens on the 15th of October. The cast consists of James Wood, Phillipa Dadd, Ben Sansum, Holly Thomas and Rhiannon Nicolson. The Box Office for this show will open on Saturday 11th September.
Noel Coward's Private Lives
Friday 15th & Saturday 16th October 2010
Friday 22nd & Saturday 23rd October 2010
The Box Office will be open from Saturday 11th September