It’s hard to go wrong with Noël Coward, and especially with “Private Lives,” his 1930 comedy of manners now on the Arizona Theatre Company stage.
There is a rhythm to Coward’s language, which drips with wit and sophistication.
It’s almost like music.
And that got lost in this production, directed by KJ Sanchez.
Despite a solid cast, beautiful costumes (by David Arevalo), and an impressive set (Tanya Orellana), ATC’s “Private Lives” falls flat.
We got more slapstick than wit, and the sophistication was superficial.
The story is about a divorced couple that winds up in the same hotel with their new spouses.
This couple, Elyot (Hugo E. Carbajal) and Amanda (Sarita Ocón), were married for two years and divorced for five. Theirs was a passionate relationship marked by physical fights and red-hot love. Meeting accidentally on the balconies of their next-door-to-each-other hotel rooms ignites that passion again. Left in the wake of their rash and reckless behavior are the new spouses, Victor (Brady Morales-Woolery) and Sybil (Briana J. Resa).
While the original production was set in Paris, Sanchez has moved this to Argentina in the ‘30s in the first act, and modern-day Uruguay in the second. There may be a reason for that but it eludes. The end result is confusion that the costumes are of the ‘30s and then shift to 92 years later.
Sanchez rightfully sees Coward’s Play as a push and pull, love and hate. She has opted to insert tango dancing into the production to illustrate this. While we love a good tango, it just doesn’t seem organic in the play, so it is more jarring than illuminating.
There’s some wonderful physical comedy in the production, but that, too, seems out of place in this Coward play.
“Private Lives” is one of the most enduring of Coward’s plays but it has some disturbing physical violence in it — that divorced couple really go at each other.
Sanchez walked the edge between making it playful and dangerous.
Sure, the production disappointed, but the acting was sublime, especially from Carbajal and Ocón, who had perfect timing and fit together well as the fiery divorced couple.
“Private Lives” continues at Arizona Theatre Company through Saturday, May 6.
Performances are at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets are $25-$90 at atc.org or 1-833-282-7328. The show runs about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
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