IT is amazing that a play written in only four days in 1930 should still be as sparkling and entertaining today as it was then.
But this is Noël Coward we are talking about and Private Lives, the play which many regard as his masterpiece.
The Company of Ten has chosen Private Lives to launch its new season at the Abbey Theatre - and the St Albans drama group really couldn't have made a better choice.
It is a play which appeals to all age groups, is witty and amusing with no hidden depths and although there is some perceptive commentary on the way people behave, it is purely and simply entertainment from beginning to end.
The classic first act where former husband and wife Amanda and Elyot discover that they are honeymooning with different people in adjoining hotel rooms is a superb piece of writing.
Played out on a wonderful Company of Ten set which drew gasps of appreciation from the audience, it got the production off in fine style.
Right from the outset it is clear that Elyot, played by Tim Hoyle, and Amanda, Jane Fookes, are ill-suited to their new partners.
Suzie Major, always a pleasure to watch, imbues the role of Elyot's new wife Sybil with a soppiness guaranteed to rile her new husband while John Pyke's Victor is no match whatsoever for the feisty Amanda.
All four actors are excellent in their parts with a real spark between Tim Hoyle and Jane Fookes as the alternately loved-up and fighting couple who can neither live with each other nor without each other.
Their scenes together, particularly in the second act where they try not to fight, are great fun and while from time to time they sounded very much like Hugh Paddick and Betty Marsden from Round The Horne, that only added to the entertainment.
John Pyke's buttoned-up Victor is a marvellous comic creation and Suzie Major turns on the tears with aplomb.
Completing the cast is Joan Head as the French-speaking maid who gives the impression that she has walked into a madhouse - which she has.
Janette MacEwan directs Private Lives with great humour and a sharp eye for detail. She deserves maximum credit for getting the new season off to such a flying start.
Private Lives runs until Saturday 24 September.
MADELEINE BURTON
© Herts Advertiser, September 2005. Reproduced by permission