The Butler Didn't See This Coming!

[MamasDoin'Fine]

The current touring production of 'Volcano' by Noel Coward will replace the failed production of 'What The Butler Saw'

'Volcano'
Vaudeville Theatre, London.
Opening 16th Aug 2012
Previews from 14th Aug 2012
For a limited run, closing 29th Sep 2012

Jenny Seagrove, Dawn Steele, Jason Durr, Finty Williams, Perdita Avery, Robin Sebastian, Tim Daish.

Never performed in the author’s lifetime due to the climate at the time, this is the first major production of a work which gives an insight into the glamorous and sometimes scandalous island lifestyle which Coward himself enjoyed.

Directed by Roy Marsden
Designed by Simon Scullion

Produced by Bill Kenwright and Thelma Holt.

Recently widowed Adela Shelly finds herself being seduced by the suave Guy Littleton, a visitor to her elegant Pacific house on the side of an island volcano. When Guy’s acid-tongued wife Melissa decides to fly in to see off the competition, she hasn’t contemplated that Adela’s best friend, Ellen, might also be falling for her husband… and as tensions bubble up from under the surface and begin to erupt, so does the volcano, all with explosive consequences…

Jenny Seagrove most recent performances were in Rufus Norris’s production of Clifford Odets’ 'The Country Girl' and Peter Hall’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s 'Bedroom Farce'. She is also known to television viewers as barrister ‘Jo Mills’ in BBC TV’s legal series' Judge John Deed'.

Dawn Steele is perhaps best known for her role as Alice Trevanion in the ITV series 'Wild at Heart' and as Alexandra “Lexie” MacDonald in BBC drama 'Monarch of the Glen'.

Jason Durr played the lead role of PC/DC Michael “Mike” Bradley in the British Series 'Heartbeat' from 1997 to 2003.

[philitalia]

Sounds interesting. Is it any good ?

[mallardo]

I saw it in Richmond - it's not bad. Second drawer Coward with a plot like an old tropic melodrama movie starring Deborah Kerr but the characters eventually do get interesting. The cast is solid although Ms Seagrove is a bit of a cold fish - at least for me. And the set is nice.

I'd say worth seeing on a discount.

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Ms Seagrove is always a cold fish.

[devonian.t]

that artwork... sheesh!

[MamasDoin'Fine]

As with Agatha Christie, I thing the estate of Noel Coward should pull all productions of all his plays for a set time of, say, 10 years.
After the Christie estate pulled all productions, except that of the long running 'The Mousetrap', a fresh approach was given to many of them that were staged under the banner 'The Agatha Christie Company'.
This didn't always work, indeed some were worse than the old days of 1950's rep but it stopped a huge flood of second and third rate productions endlessly touring.
Coward, as popular as he is, is over produced in my opinion.

[philitalia]

True. I liked the Donmar's Design For Living, but other productions I found a bit tedious - including Broadway's Blithe Spirit, despite a good cast