Noel Coward once said ‘There will always be a few people…in every generation who will find my work entertaining and true.’ An understatement indeed, and one of the premises of Noel and Gertie, Down and Dirty, a revue detailing the lives of Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, both LGBTQIA+ stars of the early part of the 20th century.

Written by Jonathan Mill, and featuring Deborah Caddy, Breanna Macey, Jonathan Mill, Mark Oates, Mariette Rups-Donnelly with musical direction by Jeremy Brennan and the pianistic talents of Bev Kennedy, this show is a treasure trove of Coward and other show composers of the period.

My favourite moments of the production are – Mark Oates’ rendering of ‘Mad About the Boy’, the Coward lyrics of Cole Porter’s ‘Let’s Do It’, the excerpt from the balcony scene from Private Lives (Caddy and Oates) and ‘Jenny’ (by Gershwin & Weill performed by Rups-Donnelly)

Having directed a large amount of the Coward repertoire and played the Master himself many times, I was excited to see what Noel and Gertie, Down and Dirty had to offer. I was delighted! The rapport between the cast is obvious, the script is well researched /written and there are many ‘down and dirty’ secrets from their lives , some I had never heard before.

Noel and Gertie, Down and Dirty is a clever melange of the history and works of Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, their private lives and their connection with LGBTQIA+ today. Go and see it, even if you have never heard of Noel and Gertie, they were the queer crusaders of their time!