Yesterday I went to London to see a performance of this marvellous Coward play with Matthew Macfedyan and Kim Cattrell. I have seen Matthew M on stage before where he surprised me by being wonderful as Hal in Henry IV Parts I and II at the National Theatre. I had fallen into the trap of not thinking much of him as an actor after seeing him in Spooks on the TV (though sinve watching that regularly because Richard Armitage is now in it, I can understand my natural mistake - appalling scripts that make any actor look bad), and was really thrilled with this performance.
Gave up watching Sex in the City half way through the first series as I found it all a bit trite and obsessional, so only had limited knowledge of Kim Cattrell though having seen her in a play on TV a year or so ago, when she played Mrs Kipling seeing her only son off to the Front in WWI, I realised just how accomplished and actress she was.
So high hopes and they were duly realised. Not only did she look simply stunning, her English accent was spot on, her stage timing excellent and she could swing between comedy and sadness with no problem at all. Matthew Macfadyen was also brilliant as Elyot though now some of the lines are wildly politically incorrect, ditto some of the actions, as when he clocks her one when having a fight and then says 'Darling I didn't mean it'. Not something to be taken lightheartedly, but in this context and remembering when it was written, the audience let it go by though I did sense some discomfort.
I more or less know the script off by heart now and the play is full of quotable lines:
"Very flat, Norfolk" - trick here is to allow an infinitesimal pause between the words flat and Norfolk. Always gets a huge laugh.
"Don't quibble, Sybil" - for some reason which I cannot explain this throwaway line always reduces me to near hysteria and it did yesterday afternoon. Don't know why but it just does
"Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs" - as I said, politically incorrect but proclaimed with such savoir faire by the character that again, he got away with it.
Then of course, there is the wonderful song that Coward wrote 'Someday I'll find you' which appears simple and trite until it is sung by Amanda to Elyot when it reaches out and grabs you by the throat and you find your eyes are full of tears. Kim Cattrell has quite a sweet little voice, admirably suited to this song and when she finished there was dead silence for a few seconds in the theatre, always a tribute.
Amanda and Elyot fight, shriek, scream and yet love each other all the way through this play. They have an unbreakable bond and cannot live without each other, though they also appear to have difficulty living with each other as well, though by the end of the play and their reunion, they are older and wiser and more aware of what they have to lose.
Regular visitors to Random know that I am a huge fan of Noel Coward. Over the years I have read biographies, autobiographies, diaries and letters of the Master and the one thing that comes through in everything he writes is his essential kindheartedness and loyalty. Yes, of course he could be difficult and probably upset swathes of people in his career, but even when he was upset or angry with a leading lady/man, the letters he wrote to them, though sorrowful at their behaviour, were masterpieces of tact and good advice, he may have told them off in no uncertain terms, but he always always did it as understandingly as possible. Most people he wrote to in this vein responded positively and gratefully which shows that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
But, ultimately, what I love about Noel Coward is his love for him friends and family. No matter how irritating or badly behaved, or irrational he stuck by them through thick and thin. In all his writings and plays it seems to me that he is on the side of love and, to quote one of his songs 'Love is All'.
I have seen this play many times and it never fails to make me laugh, make me cry and send me out into the street, happy. I was lucky enough to attend with a friend who had never seen it before and she simply loved it.
To round off the day, I then met my daughter Kathryn afterwards and we repaired to a nice posh hotel bar and sat and had a drink and a chat. I wanted to hear all about her holiday in Rio and of course, she had just met her niece for the first time that day, so we ended up weeping over each other we were so happy.
A smashing day.
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