August 2003
Design For Living - Oxford Playhouse | |
|  | | Hugo Speer should stick to The Full Monty. |
| | Joe Pike was expecting great things from this play, which stars Hugo Speer and was written by Noel Coward.
It didn't quite work out that way. |
| | | Design For Living is one of Noel Coward's
lesser-known plays.
The story is of Gilda (played by Janie Dee), her boyfriend Otto (an artist, Hugo Speer), their long-term close-friend Leo (Aden Gillett) and the tangled relationships they have with eachother.
We travel to Paris, London and New York over two and a half years (two and a half hours on stage) and see the triangular relationship develop.
 | | Director Sir Peter Hall. |
I had high expectations as it's directed by Sir Peter Hall (former director of the National Theatre) and stars Hugo Speer (The Full Monty, Hearts and Bones, Clocking Off etc.) in what is surprisingly his stage debut.
I was disappointed.
The pace of the three-acts was slow and what could have been slick and witty was not.
Speer was uncomfortable on stage and in one scene with Gilda, both stumbled their way through the script.
The best performances were from Aden Gillett (Leo), Ann Penfold as a Mrs Mop-type housekeeper and Col Farrel (note: not Colin Farrel) as an aging journalist.
The sets (by John Gunter) were effective if not that pleasing to the eye.
Sadly this is one of the few plays I'll probably forget about quite soon. A shame as there certainly was potential.
| | | |
|
|
