Private Lives might not seem the most obvious choice for a theatre primarily known for new writing to launch its 50th anniversary celebrations. Yet this Coward revival was Hampstead’s first big hit in 1962 and, in cash-strapped times, is guaranteed to draw a loyal audience.

The most striking feature of Lucy Bailey’s pleasant if unscintillating production is Katrina Lindsay’s exquisite design. Firstly we have those fateful conjoining Deauville hotel balconies, where divorcees Amanda (Claire Price) and Elyot (Jasper Britton) meet again on their subsequent honeymoons, and then the Paris attic flat to which they escape having ditched their new spouses. These locations drip with lost elegance.

Price and Britton are engaging performers, even if their dialogue has too much earnest heartiness rather than the snap and crackle required. We don’t quite believe in their lifelong fatal attraction. We are, however, convinced that they are immeasurably better off without their drippy new partners.
Private Lives until 28 February (020 7722 9301, www.hampsteadtheatre.com)