FALLEN ANGELS

This Noel Coward play initially had some difficulty in obtaining a licence from the theatre censor, the Lord Chamberlain, whose approval was required for any public theatrical production. An official of the Lord Chamberlain recommended that a licence should be refused on the grounds that “the loose morals of the two main female characters would cause too great a scandal!” Finally opening on 21 April 1925 it ran for 158 performances!

Set in a London apartment in the 1920s, the Player’s set was a well-constructed drawing room with red striped wallpaper, a door stage left (to a bedroom) and central 6 foot gap, behind which was a corridor (leading to front door stage right and kitchen stage left, out of sight). A prop ‘baby grand piano’ was cleverly built into a corner of the room with nice candelabra on it, two armchairs, telephone table and a small dining table. Lighting was constant and Sound effects absolutely on cue.

This piece was practically a two hander with frequent short appearances from Lorraine Hunter as Saunders, the very high-class maid. Experienced in playing a maid, this was very different giving Lorraine a chance to sing and to show off her French – both of which she achieved with aplomb!  Fred Sterroll (William Hunter) and Willy Banbury (Johnnie Ray) were husbands of the principal characters who appeared at the beginning and end of the play. Both were stereotypical men of the era who took their wives for granted and thought it natural to go off for a weekend’s golf without bothering to consult.
I thought that plus-fours would have made their characters more convincing as they were somewhat two dimensional, although they did become more involved in the final scene. Maurice Duclos also appeared towards the end to convince the audience of his existence! James Mackenzie played the young debonair Frenchman with convincing French accent, without falling into the trap of overdoing it.

Anna Phipps and Sarah Johnston carried the weight of the play as bored housewives Julia Sterroll and Jane Banbury. With extensive dialogue to learn, both coped with very few prompts and their accents were suitably clipped. Their portrayal of increasing tipsiness was well handled and body language was perfectly of the era, particularly Sarah whose marcel wave hairstyle and costumes were just right. I’m not sure that Anna’s long straight hair in the opening act would have been worn loose in the 20s – her style thereafter was more suitable and her costumes well researched. These two actresses showed excellent timing and on-stage rapport and helped to deliver a very good evening’s entertainment.

William and Kevin directed a pacey production and showed good attention to detail. Contrasting usual HBP productions of farcical comedy, Noel Coward’s sense of humour, although dated, can still amuse – at least the older generation! I hope it can survive the present one!

My thanks to everyone involved both on and off stage – including the refreshment ladies!

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