THE curtain went up last night on a racy little number which brought to life Paris in the 1920s.

Performed by Oxford University students, it the first time Noel Coward’s Semi-Monde has been staged at the Oxford Playhouse.

Audiences can catch it with all its glitzy outfits, feathers and beads until Saturday.       

Cast member Lucinda Smart  said: “It's really good fun and the costumes are great.”

The 20-year-old classics student at Trinity College added: “My character is Norma. She starts off being quite innocent, but throughout the play, her costumes become more racy and she becomes a bit more of a worldly woman.”