Company B, dir Ralph Myers
Belvoir St Theatre, Upstairs
September 30, 2012

Elyot and Sibyl are on honeymoon, as are their hotel neighbours Amanda and Victor. Unfortunately for all concerned, Elyot and Amanda are recently divorced – from each other. Noel Coward’s 1930 play Private Lives concerns the inevitable reigniting of their highly combustible relationship and the fallout for all concerned.

If you can overcome your general distaste for these vain, idle chatterers, then this iconic play is one of the most perfectly formed examples of British situational comedy you will find, with a slew of quotable lines on subjects as diverse as cheap music (potent) and Norfolk (flat).

Contemporising a classic is generally undertaken to highlight a current relevance. But in Ralph Myers’ finely acted production – his first for Belvoir – the update-on-principle merely draws attention to outmoded attitudes towards domestic violence, race and sex. His perversely back-to-front set also causes more problems than it solves with prowling actors and cocktail glasses popped on the ground for want of a scrap of furniture. Mercifully, none of this blunts Coward’s rapier-like wit and a great deal is redeemed by some illuminating dramatic performances.

Toby Schmitz puts...