PRIVATE LIVES

Octagon Theatre, Bolton

Until Saturday, April 18

PREPARE to be transported to a world of frivolity and opulence at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre.

Private Lives – Noel Coward’s 1930 comedy of manners - is a crash course in how not do relationships, marriage or honeymoon.

Two newlywed couples, on the terrace of their suites in an elegant hotel on the French Riviera, should be revelling in romance.

Glamorous divorcees Amanda and Elyot are both holidaying with their new partners – Victor and Sibyl - but it does not take long for their paths to cross and sparks to fly.

The two women appear to be chalk and cheese, fiery and impulsive Amanda to conventional and innocent Sibyl.

Fiona Hampton is feisty and fabulous as pouting Amanda, sweeping around the stage with all the self-satisfaction of one of the ‘Bright Young Things’ of the 1930s - known for their wealth and reckless behaviour.

Reunited with Elyot after five years apart, they end up fleeing to Paris without a care for their respective partners – the ink barely dry on their marriage certificates.

Harry Long cuts a dashing figure as handsome and witty Elyot and the pair have great chemistry as they bicker, argue and fight their way through the reunion.

Jessica Baglow has appeared in several recent Octagon productions, including as a Lancashire servant in Twelfth Night and a Bolton nurse in Early One Morning, and it was nice to see her in the very different role of sweet-natured, upper-class Sibyl, who has a tendency to blub.

Ably completing the warring couples is Niall Costigan, as Victor, while Chiraz Aich provides a smattering of comedy as maid Louise.

Directed by Elizabeth Newman, the Octagon’s soon-to-be artistic director, Private Lives is a riotous journey through a love/hate relationship with laughs and arguments aplenty.

Written at a time when people had been plunged into economic depression, Coward shone a light on another world where some with too much money and time on their hands create their own problems. 

The design, by Amanda Stoodley, and costumes – particularly Amanda’s blue gown in act one – perfectly capture the mood and glamour of the era.

Private Lives is on at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, until Saturday, April 18.