PRIVATE LIVES Starring TOM CHAMBERS At New Alexandra Theatre, Feb 8-13 2016

A major revival of Noël Coward's hilarious masterpiece, Private Lives will embark on a prior to the West End UK tour starring stage and screen stars Tom Chambers (Top Hat, Strictly Come Dancing) as the loveable and charming Elyot and Laura Rogers (Tipping The Velvet, An Ideal Husband) as the unconventional and vivacious Amanda, alongside Charlotte Ritchie (Call The Midwife, One Night in November) as Sybil andRichard Teverson (Downton Abbey) as Victor.

This glittering production of one of the greatest plays of all time, will commence at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking, from 11 January 2016, directed by Tom Attenborough, with designs by Lucy Osborne, lighting by Oliver Fenwick and sound by Gregory Clarke.

Other confirmed venues for this major new production of Private Lives include the Churchill Theatre, Bromley (18-23 January), Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent (25-30 January), Theatre Royal, Brighton (1-6 February), New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham (8-13 February),Richmond Theatre (15-20 February), Theatre Royal, Glasgow (22-27 February), Princess Theatre, Torquay (29 February - 5 March),Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury (7-12 March) and Theatre Royal, Bath (14-19 March).

Private Lives, written in just three days, remains Coward's greatest success and the play that marked the peak of his career. Elyot (a role originated by Coward himself) and Amanda are a gloriously selfish divorced couple who, by a quirk of fate, meet again on their honeymoons with their new spouses and reignite their old spark,. The revival of their fiery romance, alternating between heated rows and passionate reconciliations, reminds them that although they cannot live with each other, nor can they live without.

A masterpiece of 1930's high comedy full of razor sharp wit and sparkling dialogue, Private Lives remains one of the most sophisticated, entertaining plays ever written, offering an evening of acutely sharp, divinely decedent, and unashamed humour.

Tom Chambers' (Elyot Chase) most recent stage credits include the West End production of White Christmas at the Dominion Theatre, and the Olivier and Evening Standard Award winning musical Top Hat, for which Tom was nominated for the Olivier and WhatsOnStage Award for Best Male Performer In A Musical. Tom is best known for his leading roles in television dramas Holby City and Waterloo Road as well as winning the 6th season of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008.

Laura Rogers' (Amanda Prynne) stage credits include the World Premiere of Tipping The Velvet at the Lyric Hammersmith, An Ideal Husband,Blue Remembered Hills and Hay Fever at Chichester Festival Theatre, Pressure for Royal Lyceum Theatre, Masterpieces at the Royal Court, 55 Days and Revelations at Hampstead Theatre, The Comedy of Errors on USA Tour and Shakespeare's Globe, The 39 Steps at The Criterion Theatre, West End, The Philosophers at the National Theatre of Wales, Macbeth, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Timon of Athens, The Taming of the Shrew and Richard III all at the Shakespeare's Globe, Gloucestershire at the Arcola Theatre, See How They Run at the Royal Exchange, Bad Girls - The Musical at the Garrick Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Three Musketeers and The Barber of Seville at theBristol Old Vic, Celestina at the Birmingham Rep and on UK Tour and Jamaica Inn at the Salisbury Playhouse. Laura's screen credits includeNew Tricks, The Smoke, Law and Order, Dates, Twelfth Night, Dark Matters, Doctor Who, Midsomer Murders, Missing, Albert's Memorial, Holby City, Bad Girls, Rock Face, Running Scared, Relic Hunter, Pleasure Beach, The Sins, Love Me Do, The Right Hand Man, Nylon Ghosts and In Two Minds.

Charlotte Ritchie (Sibyl Chase) is best known for her roles in Call The Midwife as series regular Barbara Gilbert, the role of Oregon in Channel 4's Fresh Meat, which has recently completed filming their 4th and final series, and Siblings for BBC 3. Charlotte's other screen credits includeOpen Doors, Princess Daffodil, Life Of Riley, Outsiders, Undercover, Doctors, Jolene: The Indie Folk Star and The Portrait. Charlotte is also a founder member of All Angels, a British classical crossover choral group formed in 2006. All Angels have released 4 albums and have sold over a million albums across the world. Charlotte's stage credits include One Night In November at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.

Richard Teverson's (Victor Prynne) stage credits include Handbagged on UK Tour, How Many Miles To Babylon at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast,The Schoolmistress at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, The Winslow Boy and Cause Célèbre at the Old Vic, Somersaults at the Finborough Theatre,The Doctor's Dilemma and After The Dance at the National Theatre, The 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre, West End, When Harry Met Sally and A Woman Of No Importance at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre, West End, Private Lives, Tons Of Money and Hobson's Choice all for the Freud Company, The Singing Group at Chelsea Theatre, Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle & Dick at the New Vic Theatre and A Midsummer Night's Dream at Creation Theatre. Richard's screen credits include Downton Abbey, Coalition, Jamaica Inn, The Bletchley Circle, Spies Of Warsaw, Dancing On The Edge, Upstairs Downstairs, The Roman Mysteries, Private Peaceful, Brideshead Revisitedand Workhorse.

Tom Attenborough (Director)

Tom Attenborough's previous directing credits include The Whipping Man at the Theatre Royal Plymouth and UK Tour, The Wasp at theHampstead Theatre Downstairs and Trafalgar Studios 2, Cinderella & The Beanstalk at Theatre 503, Hay Fever at the Kay & Mclean Australia Tour, The Undone Years at the Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass, Richard III at East 15, Being Ivor at the Lost Theatre, Charley's Aunt, Ivor & I and The Gentleman Usher all at the MCS Oxford, Abigail's Party at the Theatre Royal Bath and UK Tour, The President and the Pakistaniand The Thin Line In-Between at the Waterloo East Theatre, Frimston and Rowett and The Complete Worlds of William Shakespeare at the The Caves, Edinburgh, Step 9 (of 12) at Trafalgar Studios, Air Travel at the Arcola Theatre, Port Authority at the Southwark Playhouse, The 24 Hour Plays at the Old Vic, Arab Spring at the Arch, The Mountaintop at Derby LIVE, The Shape of Things at the Gallery Soho, The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Cambridge American Stage Tour and Richard II and Empty Portrait at the ADC Theatre.

Noël Coward (Writer)

One of the UK's most prolific and popular writers, Noël Coward's plays include Hay Fever, Design For Living, Present Laughter, Relative Values, Fallen Angels and Blithe Spirit. His screenwriting credits include In Which We Serve (which he also co-directed) and Brief Encounter.

The major production of Private Lives is produced by Ambassador Theatre Group.

Photo credit: Shaun Webb

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