Reviews for Private Lives: An Intimate Comedy

The average rating for Private Lives: An Intimate Comedy based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-11-24 00:00:00 Nicola Freidanck Private Lives, regarded as Coward's most pristine play, is a fine example of his art which although elegantly simple works so well. This piece seems to exist in a kind of stylised limbo, lacking consequence or context. And yet it also hints at something darker in its close-knit characters and their interior lives, and that of its creator's, both concealing and revealing at the same time. There are four characters (two couples), that being Sibyl & Elyot Chase and Amanda & Victor Prynne, unknown to the Chases, the Prynnes are honeymooning at the same hotel, which causes problems to flare up as there is a past love between two of them. Sibyl loves married life, she is as much in love with the idea of being a bride as she is with her husband, Elyot, and perhaps more so. On the first night of their honeymoon, Sibyl had gone into raptures over Elyot, but she did not forget, or let him forget, that she knew he had loved his first wife Amanda madly. When Amanda and Elyot see each other again, each wants to move out of the hotel before their respective mates knows about the presence of the other couple. Sibyl and Victor, however, who are not accustomed to making abrupt changes without reason, refuse to leave. Amanda and Elyot thereupon decides that they are not culpable when they talk together again and recall their happy times together. Both try for a time to avoid the issue uppermost in their hearts and minds, but at last Elyot breaks off the polite conversation to say that he his love for Amanda still remains. Scenes 2 & 3 were my favourites, when it switches to Amanda's Parisian apartment, which plays host to conflict and bickering, where the use of dialogue was quite superb. It's a dazzlingly constructed piece of drama, exquisite, funny and tender, and showcases Coward as one of Britain's great playwrights. Would love to see on stage.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-10-01 00:00:00 Ian Hulsey "Love is no use unless it's wise, and kind, and undramatic. Something steady and sweet, to smooth out your nerves when you're tired. Something tremendously cosy; and unflurried by scenes and jealousies. That's what I want, what I've always wanted really."