The plays of Noel Coward appear to be experiencing renewed popularity in recent times, with new films and theatrical revivals coming think and fast. Felicity Kendal is making her Australian stage debut with her starring role in ‘Hay Fever’.
“He does seems to be very popular at the moment,” Kendal agrees, “There seems to be a revival of this work going on.
The actress who became a household name with the ‘70s TV series ‘The Good Life’ and returned to our screens with the murder mystery series ‘Rosemary and Thyme’ has also enjoyed a long and successful career on the stage.
The theatre veteran notes that we do tend to forget about particular writers and then suddenly get very interested in them again, until we have too much, and they return to being out of fashion.
“It’ll go on forever because the writing is so good.” Kendal said.
Coward’s daring subject matter is what keeps his plays so relevant today Kendal argued, noting that ‘Hay Fever’ has as much to offer now as when it debuted 89 years ago.
“The thing about Coward is that he was just such an extraordinary man. He was so modern in many ways, he was writing at twenty four about things were just not written about for the West End. I think people think he was a comedy writer about manners in a sense, but in fact he was a very political animal who was way ahead of his time.” Kendal said.
“He was writing about infidelity, about drugs, about homosexuality, he wrote about the world and things that the society people in England were discussing. Everyone knew what was going. It was a wild time the twenties, but people weren’t putting it on the stage, he was way ahead! He’s very modern because he was writing about people.”
Reflecting back on her career, and the longstanding adoration that the public has for her since she first entered the public consciousness as loveable housewife Barbara Good, Kendal said she had been very lucky.
“I’ve been lucky to enough to have been reasonably successful from a very early age, and so I’m used to be recognised ‘for being around’, a bit like a part of the furniture. The actress said she doesn’t always notice when people recognise her in the street, but it’s very nice when they do.
The evergreen sitcom ‘The Good Life’ made stars out of all four of its main actors with Kendall, Penelope Keith, Richard Briers and Paul Eddington all going on to have long and successful careers. The final episode of the show was even a Royal Command performance with the Queen watching in the audience.
“Absolutely, we did indeed,” sad Kendal recalling the taping, “She came in an evening dress with a little crown. It was the most surreal situation because instead of benches they put in leather chairs and bunting. Normally we had just any old people from outside who queue up. Normally when you get it wrong you cuss and swear and then do a retake.
“It was usually very casual, but suddenly we had to be careful not to say the wrong word. It was surreal experience but rather lovely!”
Felicity Kendall is staring in Noel Coward’s ‘Hay Fever’ at The Regal Theatre from 13-22 November. Tickets are available from Ticketek.
