My first Coward play, Star Quality could be a play just for luvvies darling!

Crammed full of inside jokes and titters for which someone like me (I was turned down to play the role of Jacob Marley’s Ghost aged 13 and never auditioned again) can only dream of appreciating.

Having said that, Noel Coward has given the audience so much more than just laughs; we were given an insider’s tour, a wry peek into the backstage comings and goings of Theatreland.

Set in a smoke-filled theatre in 1950s London, Bryan Snow, the young author of Dark Heritage, experiences true theatre for the first time. Throughout the play he is gently manipulated by the wonderful cast of old-timers and new bitchier upstarts.

Liza Goddard plays the ever dramatic Lorraine Barrie who acts her way through life both on and off stage, while Daniel Casey (that nice Sergeant from Midsomer Murders) is Ray, an ambitious new director determined not to let Lorraine’s influence ruin the production.

There is a wonderful supporting cast of influencing personalities with low-ranking job titles; Nora, Lorraine’s maid-cum-dresser and Ray’s personal assistant and boyfriend Tony, both of whom keep the whole production rolling with their insights and subtle interventions.

The stage set was minimal, the whole cast deftly moved the props to reveal new scenes and employed effective fast forward methods which were accompanied by an hypnotic soundtrack.

Indeed, at one point the audience was enveloped within the play as the actors performed around us.

Egos fell and rose again, true personalities and strengths were uncovered but the play must go on and it did. Very well.

CLAUDIA FIGUEIREDO