Design for Living

Although doubtlessly toned down a bit in the original production, it is made clear here that the two bisexual men were in a relationship together before they met Gilda and that the sexual intimacy that binds them altogether is indissoluble from their artistic outlook. As their careers start to flourish and their celebrity status makes them sought after by mainstream moneyed society, this puts stress on their relations with each other as they feel the pressure to conform to conventional mores. But Coward also shows that unlimited personal freedom has its dangers when there are no rules to hold on to and the selfish pursuit of pleasure turns bitter.

Anthony Page’s production is rather slow to take off but once it does it performs a nice balancing act of making Coward’s wit dazzle on the surface while more unsettling currents stir underneath. Lez Brotherston’s splendid design moves from the charming disarray of a cramped Parisian garret to the posh but overbearing elegance of a London apartment and the modernist décor of a Manhattan penthouse suite, as the protagonists move up in the world.

The cast perform brilliantly. Lisa Dillon conveys both Gilda’s fun-loving sensuality and her neurotic insecurity. Andrew Scott is the impishly provocative Leo and Tom Burke the archly melodramatic Otto, with the two men sharing a hilarious drunk scene as they console each other after Gilda has left them. And Angus Wright also does well as the strait-laced but repressed art dealer Ernest who complains about their “disgusting three-sided erotic hotch-potch”, while probably secretly wishing he could be involved in the fun himself.

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