Preview: Private Lives at Newcastle Northern Stage

Private Lives 

Newcastle Northern Stage 

Tuesday 4 – Saturday 8 November 2025

Noël Coward’s Private Lives, directed by the up-and-coming Tanuja Amarasuriya, arrives at Northern Stage from 4-8 November 2025 in a co-production with Octagon Theatre Bolton, Mercury Theatre, and Rose Theatre, supported by The Royal Theatrical Support Trust. It promises elegance, wit, emotional turbulence — and plenty of sparks.

What is Private Lives

First staged in 1930, Private Lives is one of Coward’s best-known comedies of manners. It centres on Amanda and Elyot, a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring suites at a French hotel, accidentally (or perhaps fatefully) run into each other. Despite having divorced for good reason, their mutual attraction re-ignites, and what follows is a volatile interplay of romance, nostalgia, irritation, jealousy, and comedy. The play juggles glamorous social settings and sparkling dialogue with darker undercurrents of emotional conflict.

Themes include the tension between public decorum and private desire, the absurdity and pain of human relationships, and how love, even when familiar, can be unpredictable and destructive as much as it is intoxicating. 

What makes this production distinctive

• Director: Tanuja Amarasuriya, winner of the 2024 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award, brings a modern sensibility to classic texts. She is known for atmospheric, emotionally rich work, often exploring identity, culture clash, and immersive storytelling.

• Access: Several performances are access-friendly: BSL interpretation, captioning, audio description, and touch tours are offered. This enhances inclusivity for the region’s audiences.

What audiences might expect

• Glamour & period style: The play is set in 1930s France, a setting ripe for art deco glamour, elegant costumes, sun-splashed terraces, hot nights — elements that often serve both aesthetic appeal and dramatic contrast.

• Sharp wit & rapid dialogue: Expect Coward’s signature verbal sparring, irony, and the kind of humour that cuts as much as it charms. The emotional stakes are real, even in comedy.

• Intense emotional swings: The love-hate cycle between Amanda and Elyot includes laughter, longing, anger — sometimes physical tension. The “outrageous battles” of the promotional copy are not just comedic but grounded in genuine emotional messiness.

• Relevance: Though written nearly a century ago, many find that the play’s observations about relationships, the masks people wear, regret, desire and the difficulty of change still ring true. In the words of Amarasuriya, these are “bittersweet truths about the complex difficulties of relationships,” with characters that feel “modern” in their contradictions.

• The play is recommended for age 14+ due to physical violence, smoking, alcohol, and emotionally intense scenes; some of the conflict may be uncomfortable but is part of what gives the play its power.

Why this matters for our region?

Northern Stage is a key venue in the region for presenting both established classics and fresh takes, and this production seems to bridge that divide: a classic Coward text reinterpreted by a director with a contemporary, inclusive vision. For local audiences, it offers both nostalgia and relevance — for those familiar with Coward, a chance to see something new; for those less so, an accessible entry into what comedy of manners can offer: laughter, glamour, and surprising emotional depth.

Photos: Pamela Raith

Tickets:

https://northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/private-lives/

Access Performances

Audio described - Fri 7 Nov, 7:30 pm

BSL - Wed 5 Nov, 7:30 pm

Captioned - Fri 7 Nov, 7:30 pm