Home Chat
Home Chat
By Noel Coward
Directed by Martin Parr
Finborough Theatre, London
August – September, 2016
Cast
Polly Adams
Tim Chipping
Philip Correia
Joanna David
Richard Dempsey
Nelly Harker
Robert Hazel
Clare Lawrence Moody
Zoe Waites
Six Off WestEnd Award nominations
Martin has been nominated for ‘Best Director’, Off West End Awards 2016
Home Chat – The first UK production in nearly 90 years
“I am shirking off the chains that have shackled me for so long – I have suddenly come to realise that I am a woman – a living, passionate, pulsating woman – it never occurred to me before.”
A unique rediscovery in its first UK production since its premiere in 1927.
Janet Ebony and her best friend Peter Chelsworth are innocently sharing a sleeping compartment when their train to Paris is involved in a disastrous railway accident. Outrage and scandal ensue as Janet’s husband Paul and her fearsome mother-in-law accuse Janet and Peter of adultery. Aghast at their families’ accusations, Janet and Peter decide to take revenge by inventing an adulterous affair…
Written with Noël Coward’s trademark wit and insight, Home Chat is a distinctly modern comedy about female sexuality and fidelity, in a society rigidly governed by decorum and reputation.
Reviews
***** RemoteGoat.com
**** The Telegraph
**** The Stage
**** The Reviews Hub
**** BroadwayWorld.com
**** LondonTheatre1
**** Last Minute Theatre Tickets
“Home Chat, a 1927 script by Noël Coward, has not been performed for nearly 90 years. It was not greeted well when it was first produced in the West End, and no one has championed it since. But they ought to have done…It turns out to be a searingly powerful, anti-establishment expression of female individuality”
Tim Auld, The Telegraph
“An unexpectedly splendid surprise…it’s a genuine marvel that that play turns out to be a sparkling diamond…on the evidence of Martin Parr’s revelatory production here, you wouldn’t be surprised to see it take it place alongside the more familiar of Coward’s works that frequently pepper the repertoire”
Ian Foster, There Ought to Be Clowns
“One of the brightest, sparkiest proto-feminists to be found in English drama. Janet Ebony is a fantastic character”
Alison Goldie, RemoteGoat.com
“An enjoyable and polished production”
London Pub Theatres
“This revival shows the strength of Coward’s compact wit and stagecraft with a polished production”
Traffic Light Theatregoer, Alice Joseph
“Rapier sharp dialogue”
Genni Trickett, Last Minute Theatre Tickets
“Splendid performances from a highly skilled cast”
Gary Naylor, BroadwayWorld.com
“Zoe Waites is just superb”
Ian Foster, There Ought to Be Clowns
“Played with devil-may-care vivacity by Zoe Waites”
Julia Rank, The Stage
“Janet is made compulsively watchable by Zoe Waites, a whirlwind of energy and luminosity”
Alison Goldie, RemoteGoat.com
“Zoe Waites gives a masterclass in flippant insouciance and steely self-possession”
Tim Auld, The Telegraph
“Tim Chipping, excellent as the stuffy, honourable Paul”
Genni Trickett, Last Minute Theatre Tickets
“Particularly noteworthy is Clare Lawrence Moody who plays the simpering Mavis Wittersham with deft humour”
London Pub Theatres
“The star of the show, however, has to be Clare Lawrence Moody, playing Mavis Wittersham”
Olivia Gibbs-Fairley, A Young Theatre
“The scene stealer is Robert Hazle, as the manservant”
Tim Auld, The Telegraph
“Robert Hazle, who plays the manservant, is a show-stealer with his jazz-age songs”
West London Living
“Robert Hazle’s comedic turn as the Butler was impeccable”
London Pub Theatres
“The old ladies are divinely eccentric courtesy of Polly Adams and Joanna David”
Alison Goldie, RemoteGoat.com
“The relationship between David and Adams is fantastic”
Cat Lamin, LondonTheatre1
“Polly Adams and Joanna David both give a masterclass in scathing comments and cutting glances”
Ian Foster, There Ought to Be Clowns
“The show is stolen by the not-quite-lovers’ mothers, who have the menace of the aunts of PG Wodehouse and the chutzpah that comes with what’s now called white privilege. Joanna David and Polly Adams draw on years of experience to maximise the outrage”
Gary Naylor, BroadwayWorld.com
“Director Martin Parr has now stylishly revived this comedy drama, giving it the production it deserves”
Traffic Light Theatregoer, Alice Joseph
“Martin Parr’s production does full justice to Coward’s sharp wit”
Carolin Kopplin, UK Theatre Network
“A delightful production by Martin Parr”
Julia Rank, The Stage
“Christopher Nairne’s lighting and Pete Malkin’s sound are original, inventive and atmospheric”
Genni Trickett, Last Minute Theatre Tickets
“Special mention has to go to the set design by Rebecca Brower which flawlessly encompasses the roaring twenties”
London Pub Theatres
“Charlotte Espiner’s costumes and Rebecca Brower’s set are both packed with detail”
Gary Naylor, BroadwayWorld.com
“The strongest period revivals at the Finborough are the ultimate in class”
Julia Rank, The Stage