By Peter Maddern
There is something turbulently alluring about the era synonymous with Art Deco architecture – the swinging 20s, Gatsby, then the days of reckoning of the Great Depression, all wedged between the relief after WWI and the impending gloom of WWII.
Noel and Gertie is about two people of those times – Noel Coward, a man possessed with a certain personal style that he studiously sought to promote and Gertrude Lawrence, a performer with own sense of class whose love for the stage overwhelmed all others. Together they enjoyed a sparkling platonic relationship that spanned forty years until her premature death from cancer and which embraced all manner of shows, many of which Coward was the co-star in and wrote for her specifically.
In this production, devised by Sheridan Morley, using the words and music of Coward and directed by Nancye Hayes, James Millar (as Coward) and Lucy Maunder (as Lawrence) takes us through those times and their relationship.
Using an Art Deco set design that seems both a theatre foyer and a stage, this is a breezy, uplifting two hour production that both tells the tales as well as presents the wit and music of Coward himself.Vincent Colagiuri is musical director and accompanist placed at the rear of the stage.
Miller, mostly in black tie (and only occasionally in the dressing gown Coward is perhaps, sartorially, best remembered for) captures the persona delightfully, mixing up the great man’s pretensions and pomposity with ease, yet sustaining that aura of creative genius that could carry it all off. Maunder, in white evening gown, flits between the baring the scars of the struggles of early career, the delights of unmitigated success and an enchanting naivety about the greater world around her.
Noel and Gertie will be a trip back for many but also for others an introduction to a sound and a style that while not common is by no means out of place in today’s theatre.
Kryztoff Rating 3.5K
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