A NAUGHTY NIGHT WITH NOEL COWARD Set for Old Red Lion Theatre
Proud Haddock Productions, in association with Old Red Lion Theatre, presents A Naughty Night with Noel Coward at Old Red Lion Theatre (418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ) from Tuesday 4th - Saturday 29th August 2015. Press Night: Thursday 6th August, 7.30pm.
A Naughty Night with Noe?l Coward looks at the scandalous side of high society with two hilarious one-act plays by Noe?l Coward: We Were Dancing and The Better Half. Coward's wicked wit comes alive in this naughty night of extramarital affairs.
We Were Dancing follows Louise, a married woman, and Karl as they fall madly in love at a country club in the South Pacific. They quickly make plans to travel to Australia together but realise shortly afterwards that they have absolutely nothing in common! We Were Dancing was written in 1935 as part of the Tonight at 8:30 cycle of one-act plays.
The Better Half (1921) looks at Alice and David who are stuck in an unhappy marriage when David is on the brink of having an affair. What David doesn't realise is that his wife is trying to encourage the affair because she feels sorry for him. This play was never actually published and was eventually discovered in 2007, 34 years after Coward's death.
Jimmy Walters, director and co-founder of Proud Haddock, says, Through the use of costume, set, props and performances we aim to give the audience not just a Noe?l Coward performance but a Noe?l Coward 'back in time' experience.
Set designer Oliver Daukes comments, These two plays stand back-to-back and symmetrically take the theme of marital affairs. However, they heavily contrast each other at the same time. Whilst We Were Dancing deals with young love and scandalous affairs in the setting of a country club, The Better Half involves a stalled marriage. A revolving stage with a live pianist will allow the audience to see two set designs both matching the themes of these plays.
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The brilliant cast comprise mostly exciting recent graduates who have gained experience working in top-end productions at Fringe theatres across London. They are Beth Eyre, Stephen Fawkes, Lianne Harvey, James Lorcan, John MacCormick, Tracey Pickup, Tom Self and James Sindall.
After staging the first ever live theatre performance at the Saatchi Gallery with Julius Caesar, Proud Haddock are excited to be at the Old Red Lion celebrating the work of one of this country's wittiest ever playwrights.
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