Private Lives at Rose Theatre Kingston – review

Love is a savage thing in Noël Coward’s much-revived play Private Lives. Having travelled from Bolton’s Octagon and Colchester’s Mercury Theatre, RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award winner Tanuja Amarasuriya’s production hints at some new ideas but fails to exploit the dark heart of the piece.

The play continues to be performed today as its themes remain so relevant. Toxic relationships and social expectations are analysed under the guise of witty ripostes in a battle of equals. The story follows a divorced couple, Amanda and Elyot, who meet again while on honeymoon with their new spouses, Sibyl and Victor. They quickly realise their mutual spark has not been extinguished; they cannot live without each other, but together they are impossibly ill-matched.

Coward’s writing is a carefully scripted game of quick-fire verbal ping-pong, and this is one area where the production stumbles. Traditionally played by a cast speaking in clipped, cut-glass accents, director Amarasuriya loses much of the stiffness, but unfortunately, this means the inherent rhythm in Coward’s writing is somewhat lost and some of the funniest and cruellest lines land flat.

Chirag Benedict Lobo’s Elyot bounces with energy, but veers towards caricature in his over-the-top exasperation. More petulant child than louche cad, he handles many of Coward’s casually violent lines in a fittingly nonchalant manner, but doesn’t get deep enough into the complexity of the character.

As Amanda, Pepter Lunkuse shows fluidity with her lines and embraces the full range of Amanda’s independent character, from witty flirtation to genuine vulnerability. She holds her own against Victor and a society that challenges her freedom.

Ashley Gerlach is effective as the hapless Victor, valiantly trying (and failing) to tame the wildness in Amanda, hamming up the role for laughs. Sibyl is played by a wide-eyed Sade Malone, suitably simpering and annoyingly high-pitched.

The physical comedy combines with marital abuse, showing a fine line between passion and destruction in this tempestuous relationship. For the play to work, the audience needs to see the ardour, the slapstick and the cold violence, but all three aspects are lacking.

There is a distinct absence of sexual chemistry; Amanda and Elyot have a damaged and addictive relationship, but we see little of the fire that drives it. Physical contact often looks awkward, and the fight scenes are stiff and unconvincing. Amarasuriya’s direction lacks the necessary pace, and by the time we get to the end of the play, it is hard to care what happens to any of them.

Set and costume design by Amy Jane Cook is vibrant and bubble gum-colourful, with beautiful fabrics and chic tailoring, while the styling of the Deauville hotel and the Parisian apartment is classy and elegant.

I imagine local boy Coward, who was born in neighbouring Teddington, would be thrilled that his work is still being produced nearly a century after it was written. It’s a shame that in this production, the passionately provocative feels rather pedestrian and prosaic.