Nude With Violin

Colyton Theatre Group 

Nude With Violin 

Written by Noel Coward 

Directed by Enid Perry 

Colyton Town Hall 

Friday 25th July 2025 

‘Tricia Barclay  

NODA SW Representative District 6 

On entering the Hall, we received a very warm welcome from the Director together  with the Front of House Team on duty that evening, some dressed as French onion  sellers, setting the scene immediately for the action to come. 

The Director gave a convivial intro to the almost capacity house for this the second  night. We were treated to the strains of typical French accordion music further  reinforcing the setting, as the curtains opened, to a well-deserved round of applause,  on the luxuriously furnished Paris studio of the late renowned artist Paul Sorodin. Sebastian the valet who effectively runs the household is waiting with the maid Marie  Celeste for Paul’s estranged family to return from the funeral when an American  reporter from Life Magazine bursts in hoping for an “exclusive” interview. Marie Celeste’s words were delivered completely in French but this and her  demeanour took nothing away from her feelings about the “incomer” from overseas,  who had simply barged his way in, it was a delightful performance. The seasoned performer in the role of Clinton the reporter was also impressive. His  American accent sounded completely genuine and certainly didn’t get in the way of  the dialogue as can sometimes happen, and his brusque pushy manner was simply  perfect for the part. 

When the family, with business manager Jacob Friedland, arrive back from the  funeral it soon becomes clear that things are not quite as straightforward as they  were expecting. 

The funeral costumes were perfect for the time and for the individual characters with  some neat touches of colour picking up from each outfit. 

This certainly was a dysfunctional family, with plenty of bickering and squabbling  along the way and each performer cleverly brought out their individual traits. Mother seemed rather fey and needy, and was probably prone to conniptions, her son Colin was suitably stuffy and pompous and was well accompanied by Pamela  his superior, snobby wife, and a solid and earnest interpretation came from Jacob the art dealer, rather stuck in the middle of everything.  

A feisty and strong performance came from Jane, Paul’s daughter, she showed kindness and humour in comparison to the others, standing up for a reasonable  financial settlement for Sebastian when the family inherited her father’s fortune.  Or will they? 

Popping in and out throughout the discussions, pouring champagne and adding wry  comments to the proceedings Sebastian suddenly drops the bombshell that apart  from a watercolour he had done as a child Paul had never painted a picture of any  kind in his life! 

Of course, the family and the art dealer were in total shock and much discussion  followed together with explanations from Sebastian as to the possible provenance of the paintings, some of which were on display in prominent galleries around the  world. 

This gave opportunity for some very well played cameo roles from two glamourous  ladies as they arrived at the studio in the hope of some renumeration! First up was Russian Princess Anya, with a great accent giving a flamboyant  performance. She was followed by Cherry-Mae who was looking for funding for a  chicken farm for her “companion” Fabrice. 

This again was a super larger than life performance, in a fantastic wig, mostly  delivered in awful French with a strong American accent – simply delightful! Fabrice didn’t have a lot to say but managed to make his presence felt with suitable body language and expressions, he also made his mark doubling as the  photographer later in the production. 

These were ladies with whom Paul had formed amorous liaisons at various times in  his life and who had actually painted the pictures from the first two stages of the  cycle. 

Everyone was updated on the Jamaican final phase by Sebastian popping in and out from an adjoining room until finally the star of the show, the “Nude with Violin”  painting, was revealed and displayed DSL – it was absolutely awful! The audience was in stitches when Sebastian’s school-boy son came rushing in  furious that his unfinished “masterpiece” had been put on display! Another well  played cameo part from this young performer. 

This was a delightful comedy typical of the writer and his “talent to amuse”, skilfully taking the rise out of “snooty” characters and the pretensions of the art world. It was well directed and had very much a “company” feel, with everyone reacting and  bouncing off each other. 

The role of Sebastian was intrinsic to the proceedings and the performer playing this  role was outstanding. 

Everything was beautifully managed from the telephone calls in a multitude of  languages from French to Spanish and even Chinese. When on occasion some  sound cues didn’t quite go according to plan, this was dealt with skilfully and with  finesse, much to the delight of the audience! 

A very warm, genuine and extremely well played performance, hardly ever off-stage  with a multitude of lines, it was simply a “pièce de resistance” – well done! As mentioned earlier the costumes were spot on and the set was excellent, right for  the period with well-chosen furniture, much was achieved on a small stage. One  clever touch was the impressive bright aquamarine pot plant stand USR with the  colour reflected in the small umbrella on the hat stand just inside the impressive  double doors USCL. 

The curtain came down to the strains of Edith Piaf’s “Je ne regrette rien” – just  perfect! 

A super production from this talented group – congratulations! 

 

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