THE LOWRY, SALFORD – UNTIL 17 FEBRUARY 2022
REVIEWED BY ANGELOS SPANTIDEAS
3***
Private Lives takes on the love between two people that even though they have separated remains silently and quietly like an ember that at the right moment can become a raging fire that turns their lives upside down. Surely, as a concept it has been attempted numerous times but it still remains a timeless and massively entertaining idea, perfect for a romantic comedy for the big and small screen and even more igniting on stage.
The first Act starts with two couples on their honeymoon in adjacent hotel rooms that communicate easily through the balconies. A honeymoon very quickly interrupted as Amanda (Patricia Hodge) and Elyot (Nigel Havers) leave their spouses Victor (Dugald Bruce-Lockhart) and Sibyl (Natalie Walter), respectively, and elope to Amanda’s flat in Paris, to relieve their reignited love for each other. In the first half we see the relationship the two have with their spouses, but we also witness the passion that they still have for one another which explains why they would practically destroy their social status to relieve their love, hopefully more successfully this time.
The second Act finds the couple in Amanda’s gorgeously designed and thought to the last detail by the designer Simon Higlett, with the two realising that the reasons why they initially separated are still there, with the two jumping between passionate expressions of love to passionate fighting, that slowly escalate. The cherry on top is Victor and Sibyl, whom they are still married to show up at the flat and create a hilarious dynamic with back and forth bickering and teasing among all the characters.
This show is a definite comedy, designed with clever jokes, eloquent remarks that expand from plain insults and pauses that create an organically funny atmosphere. Although originally written for a younger couple, Patricia Hodge and Nigel Havers do an incredible job showing that love and passion do not have an expiration date and it was actually refreshing to see a more mature couple on stage behaving like lovestruck teenagers. That in combination with some clever jokes about indigestion or a pulled muscle accentuate the very talented rendition of the two roles and does not feel as reductive or superficial but rather authentic. Nevertheless, as the difficulty with bringing older plays to contemporary stages, the show does fall into some stereotypical depictions in terms of gender and race that occasionally hold it back from keeping up with today’s standards which can be slightly disappointing for an otherwise very beautifully thought out play.
Overall, Private Lives brings some very beautiful and certainly hilarious moments on stage, and is a definite choice for a night of amusing predicaments and romance with a cast that brings the characters to life