Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT
through February 8, 2015
by Barbara Stroup
For at least 90 minutes, it is possible to leave serious
considerations behind while enjoying “Private Lives,” the well-paced production
currently offered at Hartford Stage.
Superior acting and a Noel Coward classic combine to breathe
life into the private but frivolous lives of two badly paired couples.
Audiences can forgive them their shallow self-concern because Coward writes so
well for this kind of superficiality that laughter, rather than scorn, is the
result. The world the characters inhabit does not have work or responsibility
or weighty issues in its landscape, as they mix their cocktails and
unsuccessfully attempt to convince themselves they are hitched properly for
life. Mayhem results, and coupling at last is resolved to everyone’s
satisfaction, and that really is all that happens. Can it be enough to
entertain for 90 minutes?
In this production, it most definitely serves. The staging
is exquisite as the director requires actors to climb railings in tuxedos and
to stay in almost constant motion. Costumes for the wife Amanda, as well as the
husbands in the play, are breathtaking, but that of the other wife Sybil is almost a
mockery.
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| Photo by: T. Charles Erickson |
Alexander Dodge should win any prize that might exist for
scenic design. Act II’s Paris flat contains two staircases with deco railings;
animal prints and stripes are everywhere. Dominated at center by a tiger face,
the set is a classy, perfectly-stated apartment that is used to every advantage
by the director. It includes a grand piano, ably played by Ken Barnett, during
the two minute, delicately choreographed time-out the couple uses to avoid
bickering. The whole production is a feast for the eyes and the rotating stage
is used with perfect timing.
Hartford Stage treats audiences to a display of costumes
from other productions in its lobby. The play, which runs without intermission,
is a warm bubble in a cold winter.
