The Rep's 'Private Lives' is darn near perfect

The Rep has opened a production of “Private Lives” at COCA—and it’s darned near perfect.

Noël Coward’s classic sex-comedy-of-manners is the epitome of his sophisticated wit. The play has appeared over the years in thousands of productions around the world. It opened in London in 1930 with Coward and Gertrude Lawrence starring (and with Olivier as “the other husband”). It came to Broadway in 1931, with Coward directing as well as starring with Lawrence. Since then it’s had seven Broadway revivals, attracting such icons as Tallulah Bankhead, Tammy Grimes, Maggie Smith (with Gielgud directing), Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Collins, and Alan Rickman. So this show has “legs”!

A classy hotel in Deauville. A romantic, moonlit night. A newly-wed couple, Elyot and Sybil, have come here to begin their honeymoon. They share a balcony with another honeymooning couple. Elyot, to his vast chagrin, finds that the bride-next-door is his very own ex-wife, Amanda. Amanda is here with her new husband, Victor.

Elyot and Amanda had a fiercely romantic, yet disastrous marriage. It oscillated rapidly from passionate love to knock-down-drag-out quarrels. Now each has a new spouse, and each is desperate to escape this embarrassing situation. Elyot begs Sybil to run away to Paris—tonight! Amanda begs Victor to run away to Paris—tonight!

The first act consists of several duologues: first one pair of newlyweds, then the other, then Elyot and Amanda (the exes). Together, alone, the two find that the old chemistry is still most volatile. In reminiscing over their past they find that they are still passionately drawn to each other. They mischievously, recklessly decide to flee together to Paris. In a final brief scene the abandoned spouses share a drink—mystified as to the whereabouts of their mates.

Act 2 is a few days later, in Paris. Elyot and Amanda, in her flat, are blissfully in love. But the bliss soon becomes battle, as in days of yore. Now, however, they’ve wisely devised a safety-word; they use it to call a two-minute silent time-out in which they can recover their tempers. And, of course, the abandoned spouses show up.

I was a little put off in the very first scene because of the total absence of pauses. In Noël Coward pauses are important. Some of the humor depends on a preceding pause. Much can happen in a pause. (Just observe the oceans of emotional action that happen in the two-minute “time-outs” in Act 2.) But in later scenes everyone seemed to relax into the legato pauses required.

Amanda and Elyot are played by Amelia Pedlow and Stanton Nash, and they are both splendid. The lovely Ms. Pedlow is wonderfully comfortable and natural in her role. She and Mr. Nash have both mastered Coward’s deft, ironic wit. And Nash is a gifted pianist, as was Noël Coward. (Coward, a world-class songwriter, wrote his classic “Someday I’ll Find You” specifically for this show.) Nash, in Act 2, plays and sings with utter casual ease to his inamorata. It makes this such a Noël Coward show!

Kerry Warren plays Sybil, who is—let’s be honest—just a little dimmer than others. Ms. Warren, though not quite so convincingly English as the others, gives a bright expansive performance.

Victor, Amanda’s abandoned husband, is played by the strikingly handsome Carman Lacivita. He makes Victor the only really sane character on stage. Yes, he’s a bit conventional, but he’s so real. He’s genuinely suave, his voice is soft and rich, and can he ever wear the beautiful clothes with which costumer Kathleen Geldard blesses him! He is grace incarnate.

Ms. Geldard has another costuming triumph in what she gives Amanda in Act 2. Here Amanda appears en déshabillé—in silk camisole and tap-pants. These are without question the very sexiest garments ever designed for woman. And Ms. Pedlow wears them very well indeed.

There is a love-making scene. No nudity—not anything even approaching an X-rating, yet it is by far the most truly erotic scene I’ve ever witnessed on stage. And, amazingly, it doesn’t distract from the comedy. Beautiful work from the actors, from Stage Director Meredith McDonough—and from Intimacy Director Kaja Amado Dunn.

Noël Coward requires a very special sensibility, and Ms. McDonough clearly has that. She makes this a classic production of this classic comedy.

The set, by Lex Liang, is simply perfect—appropriate to the place, the time, the mood.

The Rep's production of Noël Coward’s “Private Lives” plays at COCA through October 23. I highly recommend it.