Noël Coward Down Under.

“I've been to a marvellous party. I must say the fun was intense. We all had to do what the people we knew might be doing 100 years hence.”

In a corner of the Australian National University in Canberra  rests a ‘marvellous’  tribute to flamboyant English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer Noël Coward.

David Spicer reports that it’s just one of the surprising treats inside the Teatro Vivaldi restaurant.

Time Magazine described the late Noël Coward as “a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise.”  So it begs the question how did a living replica of his London study end up in a restaurant in Canberra?

The mystery is not hard to crack.

In London, hotelier Mark Santos and his partner chemistry professor Anthony Hill - leased the building in the suburb of Belgravia once run as a guest house by Noël Coward’s mother, in which the writer lived from 1924 – 1936.

With permission from the Coward Estate, they named it the Noël Coward Hotel and ran it as a thriving boutique bed and breakfast throughout the 90s.

The Noël Coward Hotel looked the part.

‘We recreated his study, his old piano and old record player. I also bought his signature at an auction for 460 pounds,” he said.

“We stayed there until 2001, but then at the end of its 99 year lease it was taken back by Duke of Westminister to turn into an apartment block” laments Mark Santos.

With the demise of the Noel Coward Hotel and the offer to Anthony of the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at the ANU, the two men decided to move to Australia.

“When we first arrived in Canberra it was very hard to adjust and find a niche. So far as theatre, in contrast to London, Sydney or Melbourne, it is the amazingly vibrant amateur groups that provided the heart and soul of Canberra theatre with the occasional very brief visits from touring productions,” he said.

It soon became obvious that Canberra was not  suited to the bed and breakfast trade and so Mark began to look out for a restaurant to run, and discovered one (‘Vivaldi’) was available on the ANU campus.  Even thought it was inside the ANU Arts Centre it didn’t have a touch of showbiz. All that was soon to change.

The men shipped out all their theatrical memorabilia from London and changed the name to  Teatro Vivaldi to reflect its new incarnation as a cabaret performance space.

During the day  The Teatro Vivaldi serves mainly university staff.

By night it has turned into a thriving cabaret and small show venue with a production on at least once a month.

“We put on great shows and get really big names like Caroline O Connor, Simon Burke, Rhonda Burchmore, Amanda Muggleton and Simon Gallaher,” he said. These ‘names’ may be used to the big stage, but they genuinely seem to enjoy the more intimate cabaret setting which is increasingly hard to find.

The Teatro Vivaldi  also hosts shows by  local people just starting out and it is becoming a popular venue for local amateur theatre companies.

Show business stars and would be stars love the venue and its no wonder.

Recently Jon English came to Canberra to help launch their second eatery … Teatro Fellini. It’s a bistro at the National Film and Sound Archive decorated with memorabillia  from the movie industry.

In their major venue - aside from the Noël Coward  study corner – every wall of the  restaurant and bar is festooned with posters, mugs and other souvenirs. There are separate walls for West End and Broadway productions – many with elite autographs.

I experienced the delightful atmosphere of the venue while watching the black comedy Stiff staged by local community theatre company, Supa Productions.

The food was excellent – but for visitors to Canberra   be warned the restaurant is very hard to find on the campus so check out their web-site for directions (www.vivaldirestaurant.com.au).

You wont be surprised to learn that the works of Noël Coward feature on the bill from time to time.  

The restaurant was launched with a Coward cabaret featuring Amanda Muggleton and Denis Olsen.

“Blithe Spirit is my favourite (Coward) play,” he said.

Mark’s favourite Noël Coward lines are  “I went to a marvellous party” and “Don’t put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington.”

Mr Coward may have died in 1973 but his spirit lives on – at the other side of the world.