"Come Into the Garden, Maud" from a BBC production in 1982 is part of the 7-disc Noel Coward Collection. It's a mixed bag. This particular play was interesting because of the casting.
One problem Brits have is that they don't really understand American accents. Not that they can't do them beautifully - but for instance, in a stage production of Death of a Salesman in England, the wife called Willie - VILLY - in an attempt to make them sound like New Yorkers or something. They don't mean to be offensive, they just are.
Same problem here, with Toby Robins playing I guess a rich New Yorker but she comes off very stereotype because of her New York accent which is overdone. At first, Paul Scofield, as her berated husband, seems horribly cast. Later on he is fabulous. I have to blame the direction.
The minute the character of "Maud" said one word I knew it was Geraldine McEwan - unmistakable voice!
The story concerns an unhappy man and his overbearing wife who are traveling in Europe. One night Maud, an acquaintance, comes to visit, and due to a situation at a dinner the wife is throwing, the two are left alone in the hotel room. Wonderful scene. Nice ending.