August
2003
Design For Living - Oxford Playhouse |
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| Hugo
Speer should stick to The Full Monty. |
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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. |
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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.
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| 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.
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