Theatre Trip – Private Lives by Noël Coward
On 13th May 2016, my writing group and I went to watch the play Private Lives by Noël Coward. Due to our next planned project (writing a play), we decided it would be a great idea to go and watch as many plays as we could. So when we spotted that the Oldbury REP theatre had a play on, we jumped at the chance to go.
As I am also keen on returning to play writing, I was excited to see the play. I have seen many musicals – the last one was Hairspray – but I haven’t watched many plays, even though I loved writing them when I was younger.
The play, Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners. This is a type of entertainment that satirizes the behaviour in a particular social group – this is something new to me. The three-act play is about a divorced couple who find that they are staying in adjacent rooms while honeymooning with their new spouses.
I thought this kind of play wouldn’t be able to hold my attention (I’m a daydreamer); however, I was proved wrong. My gaze was fixed on the stage from start to finish. I laughed throughout the play, and I was impressed by the language used. The cast did a brilliant job, and the set was better than I expected from a smaller theatre. I also learned how prompts are given to the actors to allow the dialogue to flow smoothly.
It was a lovely evening, and I can’t wait to see the next play, which will be 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow.
You can read Percy’s full report of the play on our Oldbury Writing Group website.
https://oldburywritinggroup.wordpress.com/2016/05/21/theatre-trip-private-lives-by-noel-coward/
My latest, Writing Times Magazine, article can be found at the link below.
https://writingtimes.publishpath.com/5-ways-you-can-research-for-your-writing-projects
Stay spooky, folks!
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