A RARELY performed Noel Coward comedy is coming to Bath Theatre Royal – The Marquise, starring Juliet Aubrey, Simon Shepherd and Tristan Gemmill, is on a national tour and will be at Bath from Tuesday 16th to Saturday 20th June.
This romantic comedy, originally set in 18th-century France and now given a 1930s updating, was written as a vehicle for Marie Tempest, who starred in the original production in London. Later players of the central role have included Lillian Gish, Celia Johnson, Moira Lister, Diana Rigg and Kate O’Mara.
The play depicts the complications arising from the romantic affairs of two generations of an aristocratic family. It is a sophisticated tale of old secrets, impulsive passion and eternal youth. When a widowed count, Raoul, tries to marry off his daughter to the son of his best friend, it seems like a perfectly sensible plan. But with both young lovers secretly pining for others, their entangled affections cause chaos. Just as their scheme to break free begins the Countess, Raoul’s former love, the spirited Marquise Eloise de Kestournel, bursts back into their lives. Wielding her wit and charm, she turns their carefully laid plans upside down, reminding everyone that love truly can conquer all.
By 1926, Coward had written more than a dozen plays, two of them – The Vortex and Hay Fever – were big box-office successes, and he was in demand as a playwright. He had promised Marie Tempest to write a comedy for her, and completed The Marquise while recuperating from a breakdown in his health, brought on by overwork. He told his mother, “As there are several illegitimate children in it I doubt if Lord Cromer [the official censor] will care very deeply for it”. But the censor did license the play.
The all-star cast features a remarkable ensemble of acclaimed stage and screen talent, who together bring Coward’s world to life with charm, wit and chemistry. BAFTA Award-winner Juliet Aubrey (Middlemarch) stars as the Marquise Eloise de Kestourne. She returns to the Theatre Royal Bath following her appearance last year in Little Women. Simon Shepherd (Peak Practice, Casualty) plays Raoul de Vriaac. Simon was seen most recently at the Theatre Royal in Mrs Warren’s Profession opposite Caroline Quentin (2022) and opposite Felicity Kendal in Noises Off (2023). Tristan Gemmill is Esteban, el Duco Santaguano. An accomplished actor (recent Bath appearances include Twelve Angry Men), he delighted Bath audiences as the villainous Captain Hook last Christmas.
They are joined by George Kemp (Outlander: Blood of my Blood, Bridgerton) as Jaques Rijar, Eva O’Hara (Hollyoaks,The Great Gatsby at Theatre Royal Windsor) as Adrienne, Martin Carroll (Richard II, The Bridge Theatre, and Birdsong, UK Tour) as Father Clement, Barnaby Tobias (The Great Gatsby at Windsor and Cymbeline, RSC) as Miguel, and Lee Peck (Filumena, Windsor, and Sleuth) as Hubert. The other cast members are Holly Smith, James Smalley and Amy Utting.
The production is directed by Philip Wilson, with set and costume design by Colin Falconer, lighting by Nick Richings and sound by Andy Graham.
Photographs by Alastair Muir