Private Lives

Penelope Keith stars as Amanda in this TV version of the famed Noel Coward play, following a long list of actresses famous for playing the role, from Gertrude Lawrence to Tallulah Bankhead to Norma Shearer. Key to Amanda's allure is in her quick and bitchy wit. Keith captures that essence in spades. Her Amanda slinks around in satin gowns and silky pajamas, shows a lot of cleavage, and takes no prisoners. She demolishes her honeymoon husband (Donald Pickering) as well as Elyot's new wife (Polly Adams) as if they were made of papier mache.

Her only real and equal partner is her previous husband Elyot, here played by Alec McCowen. At their cores, Elyot and Amanda are two sides of one upper-crust coin. They are equals in venom as well as venomous wit. McCowen, sadly, is miscast as Elyot. He's not equal to Keith's mercurial mood changes, cannot match her exceptional elocution, and is not her equal in stature. You almost expect Keith to borrow a line from another well-known work and tell Elyot, "You're too short for that gesture." He also has bad teeth.

On stage, perhaps this casting would have worked, but for a TV production with lots of close-ups, McCowen does not measure up. And while Keith is not beauty in the Hollywood manner, she easily manages to project class, allure, and sex while hardly batting an eye.

Still, this is not a production to be sneezed at. The wit and bile of Coward shine through the raised martini glasses with all their intended razor sharpness. And few actresses of her generation can wear haughtiness with such style.

It's worth watching this production for the beautiful clothes alone, the silks, satins and chiffons are mouthwatering. This is one of Noel Cowards wittiest plays. It never stops for a minute and is deftly directed by John Gorrie. The four main players give wonderful performances. Although it was written in 1930 and performed in 1976 it is fresh and light and delightfully funny and feels quite contemporary as the men and women spar and their relationships go on a roller coaster ride. We hardly have time to draw breath.

This particular Private Lives comes from a set called The Noel Coward Collection and was done in 1976.

As has been mentioned, the play has been done countless times with some of the greats playing the roles.It has been on Broadway eight times, including the U.S. premiere with Gertrude Lawrence, Noel Coward, Laurence Olivier, and Jill Esmond. What I wouldn't give to have seen that, but by now I'd probably be dead.

I had the good fortune to see Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan as Elyot and Amanda. They and the sets were absolute perfection.

Private Lives is the story of a divorced couple, married to others, who meet again on their honeymoons and take off together.

The 1976 TV production was a little disappointing after seeing Rickman and Duncan. Part of the problem is exactly that, it was made for TV. This is, first and foremost, a play that needs big performances, and big performances don't come off well on television.

Penelope Keith was a very good Amanda, though, as noted, she did not have the right sexual essence for Amanda, and Alec McCowen seemed miscast as Elyot, ill-matched with Keith, who gives a fiery performance. Having said that, he was still good. Frankly with such great dialogue, it's kind of hard to be bad.

Other Broadway Amandas have included Tallulah Bankhead, Tammy Grimes (with Brian Bedford), Maggie Smith, Taylor & Burton (a disaster), Joan Collins, Duncan-Rickman, and Kim Cattrell (with Paul Gross).

One would think all Burton and Taylor had to do was play themselves but according to Frank Rich's review, they looked and acted "whipped and depressed." That's not how one should feel during and after "Private Lives."