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Review by David Munro |
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AUGUST 26 is the 16th anniversary of the first production in London of Noel
and Gertie, and, according to the programme, the 20th of its birth in
Hong Kong.
Since then, it has been revived remorselessly throughout the country and produced
(with Twiggy) in New York.
It is essentially a pot pourri of Noel Coward's words and music scattered
over a brief resume of the life, times and performances of Coward and Gertrude
Lawrence. The emphasis is therefore on the Thirties and the shows in which
they acted together, Private Lives and Tonight at 8.30.
Considering their lifelong friendship and the fact that Coward wrote his first
major song for Gertrude Lawrence, Parisian Pierrot in a revue London Calling
in the 20's, it is surprising that they only ever acted together in one play
and a series of playlets in both instances for limited runs.
No one can recapture their performances and glamour and Annabel Leventon and
John Watts do not to their credit, aspire to do so. The problem that Sheridan
Morley has failed to dispel is that their two appearances together do not
add up to a full-length show.
True, we get large extracts of Red Peppers and Still Life, filmed
as Brief Encounter, which leave one lamenting that one did not have
the original performers enacting them, but the rest of the two-and-a-half
hour evening is basically a reminder of Mr Watts' namesake's 'Songs from the
shows' interspersed with readings from the Coward canon; most of which one
has seen before and done better.
Of these, one has to single out Miss Leventon's attempt at a scene from Blithe
Spirit in which she galumphs about the stage - to paraphrase the words
of Sandy Wilson (now why didn't they do an evening of him - it would have
been far more entertaining?) - like a disorientated butterfly, her head enveloped
in cheesecloth in a travesty of Kay Hammond's elegance in the same part.
To do her credit, Miss Leventon clearly has talent. One wonders why she elected
to hide it under a bushel (or cheesecloth) for the greater part of the evening.
John Watts brought great style to his material and made one believe that had
Coward not done it first he (Mr Watts) would have done it better. For a newcomer
to the works of the Master, the performances have a great deal to commend
them.
It is not their fault that the show does not portray its protagonist in the
best light. The overall impression of the production was that this particular
milch cow has been milked dry and that the performers would have been better
employed in some other gainful employment rather than raking over the dead
ashes of a fire which one feels should never have been lit in the first instance.
The evening was not Noel and Gertie's but merely Morley's.
Noel and Gertie, an entertainment devised and directed by Sheridan Morley.
WITH Annabel Leventon and John Watts. Jermyn Street Theatre, 16b Jermyn Street,
London W1. Until September 7. Tickets 7287 2875.
RELATED STORIES: Click here for
David Munro's entertaining preview of the same production...
