The summer of Noël Coward* continues. We started with
Blithe Spirit at Theatre in the Round in June, continued with the regional premiere of the new play
The Cottage written in the Noël Coward-esque style but with a more modern and feminist sensibility,
closing its run at Gremlin Theatre this weekend, and now we've arrived at the
Guthrie Theater's stylish production of Private Lives. This show concludes my 22nd season as a Guthrie subscriber, and I last saw it as the opener to my 5th season as a subscriber, 19 years ago. That was pre-Cherry and Spoon, so I have next to no memory of it, and this was like seeing the play for the first time. It's a hilarious comedy, with clever and biting dialogue, showcasing some pretty terrible people that are fun to laugh at. The cast is fantastic, the design is positively luscious, and the three acts fly by at a breathless pace.
See it on the Guthrie thrust stage now through August 22.
The three acts take place on three distinct days in two different locales. We first meet our characters - two newly wedded couples - on the terrace of a hotel on the Northwestern coast of France. They seem happy enough, although Sibyl keeps asking Elyot about his ex-wife, and Victor keeps talking about Amanda's ex-husband. You guessed it - Elyot and Amanda used to be married to each other, and when they see each other on the terrace, the sparks are rekindled. We meet up with them again a few days later in Amanda's flat in Paris, deep in the throes of this dysfunctional relationship, and in Act III their spurned exes catch up with them. Theirs is a relationship that's very passionate, but they also say horrible things to each other, and become physically violent in ways that can be uncomfortable (trigger warning). They establish a safe word to temporarily pause the ugliness, but it doesn't last.
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Elyot (William Connell) and Amanda (Laura Odeh)
(photo by Dan Norman) |
Director David Ivers returns to the Guthrie, having also directed their last Noël Coward play,
Blithe Spirit in 2017, among others. The show is very fast paced, very heightened in its comedy, very elegant in its rudeness. David is also the fight director, with some very intense physicality between the main couple, and others. I'm reassured that the actors are safe now that we have intimacy coordinators (Annie Enneking, who also works as a fight director), which we didn't 19 years ago, even if I'm not always sure the characters are. They make it clear that both parties are consensual in this very physical and at times violent relationship, but hopefully the audience comes away with the belief that this a play about our baser instincts, not relationship goals.
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| the Paris flat (photo by Dan Norman |
The four actors playing the main characters give fantastic, hilarious, physical performances (although only one is local, and I'd love to see an all-understudy performance), with deliciously posh British accents (thanks to resident vocal coach Keely Wolter). William Connell is positively dashing and dastardly as Elyot, with Laura Odeh giving it right back as Amanda, an electric chemistry between the two. As the two scorned parties, Nikki Massoud (last seen in
English) and Dustin Bronson (a Guthrie regular) very sweetly portray the hurt and confusion, until they too give in to those baser instincts. Rounding out the cast is local actor/singer/music director Bradley Beahen making his Guthrie debut (adorably at the same time as
his sister Kate is making hers across the lobby) in a role he's perfectly suited for, because it allows him to show off his piano playing and singing (pre-show and during the first act), his playfulness in talking to the crowd (the obligatory pre-show "turn off your phones" speech, in a French accent), and his comedic skills (as a servant in the Paris flat, entirely in French!).
This story of horribly posh people requires a beautifully posh design, which this team achieves. The first act hotel terrace set is a raised platform on the thrust stage, with charming garden furniture backed by a wall of windows into the barely seen hotel rooms. Then, at the end of Act I, as our couple runs away together, the whole thing recedes back into the depths of the stage, a brick wall lowered as our new backdrop. During the first intermission the crew quickly turns the now empty space into the Paris flat, which is dominated by two huge and chunky red velvet sectional sofas piled with giant pillows. Act III takes place in the same location, just a little more disheveled. The 1930s era costumes are total eye candy, sleek suits and tuxes for the men, an array of gorgeous gowns for the women, complete with matching accessories (Sibyl's darling little fish purse!). I was particularly enamored of the final looks for the women, Amanda in a purple zebra print pencil skirt and jacket (with brown belt, shoes, and hat), and Sibyl in a sweet sailor dress in a sailboat print. And I couldn't stop staring at the Act II dressing gowns with their incredibly detailed prints. (Scenic design by Alexander Dodge, costume design by Meg Neville, lighting design by Pablo Santiago, sound design by Fabian Obispo).
