Private Lives

A talented company takes the challenge of Noel Coward in its unfaltering stride, making the most of the sure touches in this fine production by Do Evans.

Stephen Downing takes on the anchor role of Elyot Chase, divorced for five years and then finding his ex-wife and her new husband are in the adjoining hotel suite. This is a fine, unequivocal account, beautifully enunciated as he bullies and barks his way through our chuckle-filled evening, pausing only to make the most of the very funny lines that Coward has intermittently fed him. "Don't quibble, Sybil" is one that lingers irresistibly in the memory.

Sandy Tudor is Amanda, back unexpectedly with her former husband of three years, still unable to avoid the bickering bitterness that marked their marriage, but working her way to soulful self-denigration before the end of this joyous venture.

Tom Oakley puts a lot of often po-faced energy into the humourless Victor, particularly in the later stages, and Vicky Wakeman's Sybil, who has inclinations towards the angelic, allows herself a well-merited outburst of sobbing frustration. Nicola Blakemore completes the excellent cast in the French-speaking role of the French maid with an explosive cold.

John Slim