I could watch Brief Encounter until the cows come home, but the rest of Noel Coward's work tends to leave me cold.
So I wasn't thrilled at the prospect of sitting through Hay Fever, Coward's 80-year-old comedy of manners about an inter-war theatrical family who pass the time bickering and playing silly games.
But five minutes into the show at The Alhambra, I found myself raising a smile which turned into a titter. Soon the tittering ballooned into a full-blown chortle.
Peter Hall's sparkling production is laugh-out-loud stuff. There isn't much plot - the eccentric Bliss family invite four guests to their country home then neglect them while they indulge in parlour games and melodrama - and there's no moral message. It's just fun to squirm with embarrassment at a bunch of deluded dysfunctional bohemians.
The production is worth seeing for Stephanie Beacham alone. She was exquisite as family matriarch Judith Bliss, a conceited but endearing retired actress living her life as if it was a theatrical romance.
The rest of the cast sparkled too. Christopher Timothy was a gem as Judith's husband David, a deluded and self-absorbed novelist, and there were delightful performances too from Madeleine Hutchins and William Ellis as the spoilt Bliss children, Sorel and Simon.
With flawless support from the rest of the cast, particularly Emily Pollet as 'hopeless flapper' Jackie, this was a spirited production bringing a new freshness to Coward's comedy of bad manners.
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