The Marquise is one of Noel Coward‘s lesser known plays – he even referred to it himself as a “tenuous, frivolous little piece” – but disregard Noel – because a highly entertaining and hilarious evening awaits you at Oxford Playhouse this week in this sparkling and refreshing revival.
Perhaps The Marquise’s current success is down to the fact that director Philip Wilson has reset it in 1935, rather than the original 1735 timeline, rendering it much more Noel Coward centric, and able to embrace this revolutionary period of fashion, music, art and the embodied status of women.
Set in a rural French chateau, celebrations are in full flow over Adrienne (Eva O’Hara) and Miguel’s (Barnaby Tobias) engagement, children of best friends Raoul (Simon Shepherd) and Esteban (Tristan Gemmill) who met in Paris during WW1. Done deal?
Of course not, this is Noel Coward after all, revelations that the young ingenues are both in love with someone else, in Miguel’s case a male dancer, in Adrienne’s her father’s secretary (Albie Marber), soon come gushing out.
But just as the betrothed begin to formulate a plan: ‘I promise not to marry you’, all hell breaks loose as stranger The Marquise Eloise De Kestournel strolls casually in as if she owns the place, seeking refuge for the night when her car breaks down.
Spellbindingly elegant, fashionable, beautiful, amusing and witty, she soon has the household running in circles around her, her vivacity and charm dispelling the severity of Raoul De Vriacc’s strict, godly and humourless existence. Even the butler falls prey to her charms.
Played so seductively by Juliet Aubrey, the stage lighting up whenever she enters, everything from the marquise’s mannerisms and laugh to her posture and poise are studied, her ability to rise above Raoul’s presbyterian pomposity the moves of a master player. Or is it mistress?
Because as The Marquise plays out, skeletons start falling out of the closet faster than Hubert (Lee Peck) can pour the champagne, the respectable veneer of the household cracking like ice, much like An Inspector Calls.
But here the humour, witticisms, repartee, Art Deco sets, wonderful costumes and farcical elements ensure that we are not only captivated but vastly amused as the biting jesting continues unabated, Raoul and Esteban defenceless as the marquise’s web of feminine wiles slowly engulfs them.
And while much hilarity ensues during the fencing scene as the two old friends challenge each other to a duel, their middle-age evident as they limber up, there are also moments of pathos, particularly when the marquise reveals how she has survived the two male protagonists in the room, her vulnerability finally laid bare.
The audience is spellbound throughout, despite The Marquise‘s three acts and two plus hour running time, a glorious reminder of how theatre can transport you, the stellar cast whipping you through this tremendous and underestimated romantic comedy with consummate ease.
Whatever you do, don’t miss it!
THE MARQUISE by Theatre Royal Windsor runs at Oxford Playhouse until Saturday June 13. https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/events/the-marquise
