If Love Were All

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Celebrity is so cheap these days that it's almost impossible to imagine the sheer incandescence, high voltage glamour and the unique, brittle sophistication generated by Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence at the peak of their professional partnership. 1999 saw the centenary of Coward's birth and a huge revival of interest in his work, and prompted a New York transfer for this revised version of Sheridan Morley's successful two-hander, Noel and Gertie. Based on letters, anecdotes and of course, Coward's nostalgic songs, its sub-text is the story of a strong and powerful friendship forged in childhood and cut short only by Lawrence's early death. Coward was not given to public displays of sentiment, but in later years his acute grief was still palpable in many interviews. It would be too much to expect Harry Groener to match Coward's charisma, or Twiggy to reproduce Gertie's languorous elegance, but they are charming stand-ins. Twiggy, in particular, has an authentic 1930s warble. For all her other skills, Gertrude Lawrence was no great singer. The witty, occasionally acid, narrative adds real substance to the whole confection, making the abrupt conclusion ('I'll See You Again') all the more poignant.