On April 21, 1939, Orson Welles and The Campbell Playhouse present Private Lives by Noël Coward.
Cast: Orson Welles (Elyot Chase), Gertrude Lawrence (Amanda Prynne), Naomi Campbell (Sibyl Chase),
Robert Speaight (Victor Prynne), Edgar Barrier (Hotel Manager). Music by Bernard Herrmann (adapted
from Noël Coward songs.) Welles interviews Gertrude Lawrence following the play.

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The Welles radio adaptation was abridged to fit a one hour timeslot and Welles added a new character:
"...the Hotel Manager (Edgar Barrier), who spoke in a cod-French accent. He acted as a commentator on
events, setting the scene for listeners, while commenting on the absurdities of his English guests.
His observations - delivered direct to the listeners - emphasized the artificiality of the characters'
behaviour; they were not to be taken seriously, especially by those unaware of English upper-class
mores..." - from the review on Laurence Raw's Radio Drama Reviews Online. Read the full review here:
http://www.radiodramareviews.com/id1124.html

The original Edinburgh production of the play premiered in 1930. Noël Coward directed and starred as
Elyot with Adrianne Allen as Sybil, Gertrude Lawrence as Amanda, and Laurence Olivier as Victor.
Coward, Lawrence and Olivier reprised their roles in the first Broadway production in 1931. Private
Lives has spawned countless revivals, including a 1983 Broadway production with Elizabeth Taylor and
Richard Burton and recent 2015 productions in Hartford and Philadelphia. A 2010 BBC Radio 4 adaptation
starred Helena Bonham Carter as Amanda and Bill Nighy as Elyot.

"The critics described Private Lives variously as 'tenuous, thin, brittle, gossamer, iridescent, and
delightfully daring'. All of which connoted in the public mind cocktails, repartee and irreverent
allusions to copulation, thereby causing a gratifying number of respectable people to queue up at the
box office." - Noël Coward