Noël Coward's second act of PRIVATE LIVES speaks to us in a new way with Elyot and Amanda sequestered from the outside world, and finding a lot of time to fill up together. In this very funny and moving adaptation developed by stars Veanne Cox and Ezra Barnes (specifically for Playhouse on Park), these two lovers grapple with hope and fear, memory and desire, song and dance, and love and hate in equal measure.
Valentine’s Day is always complicated. Add in some songs & a pandemic and you have the makings of a perfect Date Night.
Discounted Ticket Offer: Artists of any kind who are out of work due to Covid-19 can purchase $10 tickets with the code C-ARTIST2021 (please note there will be only 200 reduced price tickets available). This was made possible by the support of two generous donors!
Disclaimer: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and rules set forth by Actors Equity, this play was filmed in the actors’ place of quarantine. No one else was present during the filming.
Visit www.noelcoward.com for additional resources and information.
PRIVATE LIVES © NC Aventales AG 1930
First performance at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 18th August 1930 Copyright agent: Alan Brodie Representation Ltd; www.alanbrodie.com
Running Time: 50 minutes
Single Ticket Buyers:
Stream-at-home tickets are $20 per stream. Upon purchasing a ticket, you will receive a code to access the stream. The code is intended for the purchaser only. You will be able to access the film from February 10th - 28th only.
Note: Individual tickets for the stream of this production are purchased through Showtix4U.com. [Buy Tickets]
Subscribers:
You have two options - you'll be contacted via email by our Box Office to see which option works best for you.
1. Stream the production online. As a subscriber, you'll receive an email from our Box Office, which will contain a link and access code. You can access the stream anytime from February 10 thru February 28. You MUST watch it during this window. It will expire promptly at 11:59pm on February 28.
2. Schedule an appointment to come to the Playhouse between February 10 - February 28, and watch it on our screen. Only people in your quarantine bubble can purchase a ticket or use their subscription ticket to attend with you. Concessions will not be open; you may bring your own. As a subscriber, you'll also receive extras: links to educational & informational supplements, initiatives, events and activities which will be offered to enhance your experience.
EZRA BARNES* is an actor, director and teacher. At Playhouse on Park, he played John Barrymore in I HATE HAMLET, and directed DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Direction) and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST. Currently, he can be seen on the hit YouTube series Group, an innovative show about a therapy group. Off-Broadway appearances include the NY Times Critics’ Pick BREAKFAST WITH MUGABE (nominated for Best Play by the Off Broadway Alliance), and Atticus in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (Queens Theatre in the Park). Regional appearances: McCarter, Geva, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, Denver Center, Pioneer, Paper Mill. TV: New Amsterdam, Jessica Jones, Orange is the New Black, The Sinner, Bored to Death, Law & Order, SVU. Film: Motherless Brooklyn, Unintended, Noah, Joshua, Once More With Feeling. He founded and served as Artistic Director of Shakespeare on the Sound from 1996-2008. Ezra runs Brooklyn’s Young Actors Workshop.
VEANNE COX* was most recently nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance in the web series 'Indoor Boys'. Last year, she was seen in 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel', 'New Amsterdam', 'Bull', 'Tommy', 'Bluff City Law' and ‘NCIS New Orleans.’ Her Broadway credits include; AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, A FREE MAN OF COLOR, LA CAGE AU FOLLES, CAROLINE OR CHANGE, COMPANY, THE DINNER PARTY and SMILE. She has worked extensively Off-Broadway and Regionally. Her awards include Tony and Helen Hayes Nominations, and Drama Desk and Obie Awards.
NÖEL COWARD Noël Peirce Coward was born in 1899 and made his professional stage debut as Prince Mussel in The Goldfish at the age of 12, leading to many child actor appearances over the next few years. His breakthrough in playwriting was the controversial The Vortex (1924) which featured themes of drugs and adultery and made his name as both actor and playwright in the West End and on Broadway. During the frenzied 1920s and the more sedate 1930s, Coward wrote a string of successful plays, musicals and intimate revues including Fallen Angels (1925), Hay Fever (1925), Easy Virtue (1926), This Year of Grace (1928), and Bitter Sweet (1929). His professional partnership with childhood friend Gertrude Lawrence, started with Private Lives (1931), and continued with Tonight at 8.30 (1936).
During World War II, he remained a successful playwright, screenwriter and director, as well as entertaining the troops and even acting as an unofficial spy for the Foreign Office. His plays during these years included Blithe Spirit, which ran for 1997 performances, outlasting the War (a West End record until The Mousetrap overtook it), This Happy Breed and Present Laughter (both 1943). His two wartime screenplays, In Which We Serve, which he co-directed with the young David Lean, and Brief Encounter quickly became classics of British cinema.
However, the post-war years were more difficult. Austerity Britain – the London critics determined – was out of tune with the brittle Coward wit. In response, Coward re-invented himself as a cabaret and TV star, particularly in America, and in 1955 he played a sell-out season in Las Vegas featuring many of his most famous songs, including Mad About the Boy, I’ll See You Again and Mad Dogs and Englishmen. In the mid-1950s he settled in Jamaica and Switzerland, and enjoyed a renaissance in the early 1960s becoming the first living playwright to be performed by the National Theatre, when he directed Hay Fever there. Late in his career he was lauded for his roles in a number of films including Our Man In Havana (1959) and his role as the iconic Mr. Bridger alongside Michael Caine in The Italian Job (1968).
Author, actor, director, film producer, painter, songwriter, cabaret artist as well as an author of a novel, verse, essays and autobiographies, he was called by close friends ‘The Master’. His final West End appearance was Song at Twilight in 1966, which he wrote and starred in. He was knighted in 1970 and died peacefully in 1973 in his beloved Jamaica.
For further information on Noël Coward’s life and work, visit www.noelcoward.com and to join the Noël Coward Society, visit www.noelcoward.net. Twitter @NoelCowardSir
*Appears courtesy of Actors Equity, the professional union for actors and stage managers.
A note from The Noël Coward Archive Trust:
Noël Coward died in 1973 leaving behind a wealth of material including artefacts, memorabilia, letters, personal photographic and film material. These items have been made available for study and research by the newly established Noel Coward Archive Trust to celebrate and promote his legacy both at home and in the US.
The archive material is available from the Coward Office in London and a secure storage facility housing the remainder of the collection, with a searchable directory of more than 7,500 items.
A number of volumes have been written on the works of Noël Coward, the archive highly recommends the following texts to directors, dramaturgs, actors and members of the production team. They are excellent resources, providing background and context for the Play:
> Theatrical Companion to Coward: A Pictorial Record of the First Performances of the Theatrical Works of Noël Coward (2012) by Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, edited by Sheridan Morley and Barry Day.
>The Noël Coward Diaries (2000) edited by Graham Payn and Sheridan Morley.
>The Letters of Noël Coward (Diaries, Letters and Essays) (2008) by Noël Coward, edited by Barry Day
Further details of all his published books are available on https://www.noelcoward.com/further-reading
Additional approved resources are listed below, providing further information about Coward’s work; the correct places to approach for reprint rights for photographs, extracts from Coward’s novels, plays and letters; plus ways to connect with Coward experts and fans across the world. Theatre teams will find they are a great help in creating interesting and accurate programme notes and press releases.
> Official website of Noël Coward – www.noelcoward.com.
Contact: cowardoffice@alanbrodie.com
> Noël Coward Society – www.noelcoward.net
Up to date news and interviews about Coward productions worldwide.
> Alan Brodie Representation Ltd. Coward’s Literary Agent able to grant reprint permissions for Coward’s novels and plays. Contact: abr@alanbrodie.com
> Methuen Drama, Bloomsbury – www.bloomsbury.com. For published editions of Coward’s novels and full length plays. Contact: Meredith Benson, Assistant Editor meredith.benson@bloomsbury.com
> Samuel French – www.samuelfrench.com. For acting editions of Coward’s plays and amateur performing rights. Contact: Abbie Van Nostrand, Director of Corporate Communications avannostrand@samuelfrench.com
