Thursday, December 17, 2020

414. PRIVATE LIVES. From my (unpublished) ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE NEW YORK STAGE, 1970-1975


John Standing, Maggie Smith.
PRIVATE LIVES [Dramatic Revival] A: Noël Coward; D: John Gielgud; S: Anthony Powell; C: Germinal Range, Beatrice Dawson; L: H.R. Poindexter; P: Arthur Cantor b/a/w H.M. Tennent, Ltd.; T: Forty-sixth Street Theatre; 2/6/75-4/26/75 (92)

John Standing, Niki Flaks.

This is Noël Coward’s 1930 high comedy about a divorced couple who meet after five years while occupying adjoining suites at a Deauville hotel, where they are honeymooning with their new spouses.  Self-described by its author as a vehicle for sterling acting, its London production had starred Coward himself opposite Gertrude Lawrence, surely perfect casting. Wealthy ultra-sophisticates Amanda Prynne and Elyot Chase were now played by Britons Maggie Smith and John Standing to enthusiastic responses, especially for Smith.

Coward’s polished wit continued to sparkle and stir loud laughter. Douglas Watt called Private Lives “an immaculate comedy [that] seems to get funnier each time I see it,” while Clive Barnes found it “screamingly funny . . . still fresh, and most surprisingly, still surprising.” “How perfect the play is,” he added, “a gorgeous, enchanting play.”

Maggie Smith, Remak Ramsey.

For most viewers, John Gielgud’s direction was a masterful evocation of Coward’s nostalgic 1920s charm. Maggie Smith proved a superb purveyor of the brittle, flashing epigrams. “The tall and slender Miss Smith, her red hair closely marcelled, and wearing a nifty set of specially designed clothes, has deadly aim with a Coward line. Using a voice variously produced in her nose, throat and heel of her evening slipper, and a body as pliant and darting as an antic mongoose, she is hilarious,” clapped Watt. “[S]he conveys a special image of woman—self-reliant, entirely self-aware, audacious, . . . all suffused with a marvelous irony. . . . She is some sort of pagan goddess. . . . Amanda Prynne . . . is a perfect role for her, and she does it to perfection,” declared Howard Kissell. But Edwin Wilson thought her over-obvious and broad, producing farce effects that were not called for. And John Simon was put off by her “mannered” acting and exaggerations.

John Standing’s notices were approving but mild, with no raves, some even considering him miscast. Remak Ramsey played Victor Prynne and Niki Flaks was Sybyl Chase.

This revival came to Broadway following a hit London run and a four-month American tour.