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The Review - THEATRE by REBECCA FIELDING
Published: 10 April 2008

Frank Barrie (left) with Kate O'Mara

A poignant ode to the glory days of Dietrich

LUNCH WITH MARLENE
NEW END THEATRE

SIGHS of familiar affection creep through the New End Theatre as Marlene Dietrich (Kate O’Mara) and Noel Coward (Frank Barrie) take to the stage.
We find ourselves sitting down to lunch, privileged in our position as the unobserved guest, to watch Coward direct the troubled Dietrich away from her fears of financial disaster and her melancholic disenchantment with her career back to the sequins, champagne and applause of her cabaret days.
The first act sees director Chris Burgess skilfully provide a plethora of references both musical and historical, highlighting the very public and cleverly managed careers of both icons.
However, we are lulled into what soon becomes a clearly personal exchange; the sparkle of celebrity and “mutual admiration” matched by a loneliness of a chain of loves and lovers and the many fears which the cost of fame brings.
O’Mara performs the comic writing with sensitivity, reminding us of the very real pain of Dietrich’s war-time efforts. Barrie commands our smiles with a camp wit, the “stiff upper lip”.
This makes way in the second half for a medley of comic and poignant cabaret numbers, speckled here and there with quiet audience contributions and a general sway by those who recognised the familiar favourites.
Neither O’Mara nor Barrie stole the show with musical talent, but it would be unfair to suggest that was the point.
The audience was convinced they were taken back to a time when two great performers became great friends and lived a love affair with the theatre, themselves and each other.
Until April 27 0870 033 2733

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