"Tonight at 8.30" - Noel Coward (Jermyn Street Theatre)

I saw "Secret Hearts" in previews last week which I thought was great - "Still Life" (ie the original version of Brief Encounter) was the highlight but the other two were also great. Impressive staging and set changes for such a small space.

Tempted to catch the other two but put off a bit by the pricing (the preview was £15 but tickets are now £30)

The full day package on Saturdays and Sundays goes for £75.

Hadn't realised they'd left "Fumed Oak" out! Annoying for completists.

Fumed Oak is a nasty little piece IMO and definitely the one to drop. Also slightly hard to cast as it requires the ingenue to play a schoolgirl. It's always struck me as odd that there are 10 plays but only three were done each night - it must have been quite complicated to see them all

There are some favourable reviews for this today, e.g. Independent and FT (both 4*).

Old habits die hard. I left the Noel Coward show (Secret Hearts) at the Jermyn Street Theatre in the interval last night because I wasn’t enjoying it at all, which means I missed the ‘Brief Encounter’ play, Still Life.



The first play, Star Chamber is about a group of theatricals who comprise the board of a theatrical charity having a meeting to discuss a building project. It had no actual plot and went nowhere and its sole aim seemed to be to show all the characters as rather self-obsessed actors and actresses. Gently humorous, I suppose, but hardly the stuff of theatre without any plot to speak of. Even the inclusion of a pet dog seemed pointless.



Then came Red Peppers in which the two variety artistes, George and Lily Pepper, were presented almost as grotesques, with two pairs of ridiculous red wigs who overplayed their two comic duets in a farcical way. We can see from photographs that this is not the way Coward and Gertrude Lawrence did it and we have an HMV recording of extracts from the play that tell us how it was meant to sound. Yes, I know the world has moved on from 1935 but I guess I haven't because I was expecting this to be a faithful reproduction of the original. When Rosemary Ashe and Jeremy Rose sang the wrong words to the last line of ‘Men About Town’ I decided it was time I became a man about town myself and left. I know I should have stayed for Still Life but I can always watch Brief Encounter, the movie!


By the way, apart from the directorial decision to perform the Pepper's act in a way which I heartily disliked, I thought the rest of the production that I saw was excellent and all nine performers were fine, so good on the Jermyn Street Theatre for this mammoth undertaking.

No, I guess it was just me in that I didn't like the way the two musical numbers were done. In my nefarious career as a variety and music hall pianist I have accompanied both of those duets on various occasions, admittedly not in the context of a complete 'Red Peppers', and I always felt they were of a somewhat more superior artistic quality than what I saw last night, particularly 'Men about Town'. But it's my loss and I was just giving my view of how the performance struck me.

Apr 28, 2018 19:12:03 GMT 1 jasper said: It had real cakes. During the performance the plate of cakes were dropped much to the amusement of the cast who struggled to keep straight faces.



This happened when I saw it too. I assume it's supposed to happen. Particularly as there were a series of lines around it which I don't think were ad libbed! 

The nine-plays-in-a-day Cowardathon is a true theatrical event. One of those days when you feel you've achieved something simply by sitting on your backside for seven and a half hours (or so). But on such a lovely sunny day in London, to give it up to sit in a darkened basement all day with barely enough time to have a couple of meals (Kiln and Kulu Kulu) merits a pat on the back.

For me the most successful was the first trilogy (Secret Hearts). The opener "Star Chamber" might be a slight play but it is very entertaining, taking aim not just at luvvies but also at the committee system this country is so fond of. The luvvie them is continued on "Red Peppers" with its music-hall married couple on the lower ends of the northern circuit.  "Still Life", the inspiration for Brief Encounter, may be very well known but it is still an impressive piece of writing. It should be shown permanently on double bills with "The Browning Version" to those wanting to know what the famous English reserve was all about.

"Nuclear Families" groups together three plays with family themes of which "Hands Across The Sea", with its farcical situation comedy on people entertaining people they barely - in some cases don't - know is perhaps the best known and most successful. 

The final trilogy "Bedroom Farces" seem to be vehicles to show off Coward and his favourite actress Gertrude Lawrence. They all feature a strong male and female lead, and are peppered with songs and love stories. It has to be said that "Shadow Play" seems pretty experimental for its era, with its use of shifting time and psychology.

The cast were all superb - it cannot be easy to play nine characters in the same day, in different plays - and the witty link speeches and comments drew proper attention to the backstage team who worked overtime to create nine distinct and distinctive sets. The transformation for "Still Life" was particularly impressive and attracted due approval from the enthusiastic audience.

A very worthy and enjoyable exercise which continues the ascent of the Jermyn Street Theatre from an interesting little fringe venue in the heart of London to a theatre which is now being taken notice of at national level.

Plenty of places to choose from.

Backstage facilities... not a good place for a Stella in sunshine as it is stuck in the basement but Waterstone's has a nice caff with good coffee and a handy facility.