By Joy Watters, at Pitlochry Festival Theatre

DESIGNER MONIKA NISBET has perfectly captured in her sets and luscious costumes the mood of this familiar and well-loved tale of romance among American high society in the 1930s.

It is a feast for the eyes but the performances need to spring into life to really capture the delightful tone of the writing.

Philip Barry’s witty and acute observations of the upper echelons of Philadelphia society, captured in one hectic midsummer’s day, echo the madness of Shakespeare’s Dream.

As Puck remarked, “Lord, what fools these mortals be,” and in this case, he’s right too.

The central mortal is a Lord, Tracy Lord, the icy princess.

A good-looking cold fish, she is shown on the eve of her wedding at the family home, preparing in a business-like way.

It is not a potion that then throws these lovers off course, but the swells’ favourite, champagne. Sobriety brings deep revelations, of course.

The film of the same name starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, and musical High Society followed this stage version, making it familiar to a wide audience.

It also raises a certain expectation of what the performances might be like. With that in mind, John Durnin’s production simmers along after rather a cold start and it does occasionally bubble into life—but it needs to be more spirited.

The portrait is of the American rich and privileged of the 30s and it has to be played with a certain swagger.

The press in the shape of a writer and photographer for a scandal sheet also descend, a pair of sharp cookies, their observations on the Lords are sharply-honed and need to be fired perfectly.

There is an oddness about the way the cast move, and indeed do not move, on the stage.

For example, while Tracy Lord (Elizabeth Nestor) is constantly on the move, her first husband Dex (Gavin Kean) keeps getting rooted to the spot with arms at his sides, like a schoolboy in an outsize blazer.

Words are lost because of the positioning of the cast and there is a certain lack of confidence.

The final stages of realisation and wedding rearrangement—what’s a new groom among friends?—do flow and Elizabeth Nestor does the wonderful transformation scene from rare bloom to blooming drunk with panache, while Rory Murray turns in a nice performance as poetic writer Mike Connor.