Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 27th March, 2010
The twenties have roared... the thirties have yet to swing. John Whittaker, a young Englishman, falls madly in love with Larita, a sexy and glamorous American woman, and they marry impetuously... and then he takes her home to Mother....
Unusually for a play by Noel Coward, Love struggles while conquering All in this subversive view of British country-house society between the wars. That era has been described as the most blessed in modern history (assuming you were Upstairs and not Down), but not here, where the Whittakers occupy a mouldering pile in the countryside. It is said that nothing in a country house should look new. Nothing in this one looks as if it were ever new.
Written in 1924, this was Coward’s 16th play, and was originally filmed in 1928 by Alfred Hitchcock. The thing about Coward's work, whether in its unexpurgated version or in this new, re-tooled approach, is it's all about the dialogue. (Ironically, the Hitchcock adaptation was silent, resulting in much of the dialogue being excised.) There is a plot - but it's a secondary element to the lines the actors deliver. Only Oscar Wilde has the same bite. Fortunately, Elliott understands this, which makes Easy Virtue go down smoothly.This is a 1920s-era comedy of bad manners done by experts. The director’s previous project was the way over the top "Priscilla. Queen of the Desert" - which is perhaps why a script that could have been stodgy actually yields some startling surprises. It’s perhaps fitting that this was made at Ealing Studios!
The twenties have roared... the thirties have yet to swing. John Whittaker, a young Englishman, falls madly in love with Larita, a sexy and glamorous American woman, and they marry impetuously... and then he takes her home to Mother....
Unusually for a play by Noel Coward, Love struggles while conquering All in this subversive view of British country-house society between the wars. That era has been described as the most blessed in modern history (assuming you were Upstairs and not Down), but not here, where the Whittakers occupy a mouldering pile in the countryside. It is said that nothing in a country house should look new. Nothing in this one looks as if it were ever new.
Written in 1924, this was Coward’s 16th play, and was originally filmed in 1928 by Alfred Hitchcock. The thing about Coward's work, whether in its unexpurgated version or in this new, re-tooled approach, is it's all about the dialogue. (Ironically, the Hitchcock adaptation was silent, resulting in much of the dialogue being excised.) There is a plot - but it's a secondary element to the lines the actors deliver. Only Oscar Wilde has the same bite. Fortunately, Elliott understands this, which makes Easy Virtue go down smoothly.This is a 1920s-era comedy of bad manners done by experts. The director’s previous project was the way over the top "Priscilla. Queen of the Desert" - which is perhaps why a script that could have been stodgy actually yields some startling surprises. It’s perhaps fitting that this was made at Ealing Studios!
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