Lieske Bester reviews (May 2016)

​Producing a Coward play has two options: hit the wrong notes and the result is dated, exaggerated and rather boring theatre – get it right and you have bubbly entertainment with substance.  The current production is a delightful reminiscence of an elegant if rather artificial slice of society in the 1920’s. 

One Observer theatre critic deemed it “witty, trenchant, superficially frothy, but actually questioning the empty lives led by indolent privileged people”.  Director and talented cast have achieved that in full measure.
 
The flamboyant and spacious set echoes the era and so does the sound track - the décor is the right side of flashy, providing the cast with a perfect frame work for their intelligent and clearly defined characterisations.  Appropriate and stylish period costuming add gloss. Congratulations on the authentic scene changes –- one of my theatre bucket-list wishes - it got its separate and deserved applause.
 
Playing the flighty females with great flair are Jana Botha as Jane Banbury and Tamika Sewnarain as Julia Sterroll. Their close interaction bounces off each other in a variety of emotions.   Their stiff upper-lipped (and very confused) husbands are played with equal panache by Mark Wilkes (Willy Banbury) and Gary Green (Frederick Sterroll).
It’s “cherchez l’homme” on this occasion and the man in question, suitably suave,  is played (almost) convincingly by Alastair Duff.  Eve Carr illustrates the maxim that there are no small roles only small actors – her body language and facial expression gather a number of laughs of their own and complement the action in general.  
 
N.B.: The play was close to being banned by the Lord Chamberlain (theatre censor) as “the loose morals of the two main female characters would cause too great a scandal”; a production in Amsterdam closed after 4 performances for the same reason.  See this show and have an extra laugh (or frown) – how life has changed!
 
Highly recommended.  ​