Private Lives
"Very few people are completely normal, really, deep down, in their private lives," Amanda tells newlywed husband Victor. "There's no knowing what one mightn't do." As if to prove her words, Noel Coward wrote this comedy about mismatched couples, flippancy, and what it means to be "overly in love." And as if to flaunt their versatility, after the smash hit Sweeney Todd, Cygnet Theatre tore off in a different direction: the 1930s in period style and speech. Their staging has the required sophistication but also - under Sean Murray and Francis Gercke's codirection and George Ye's fight choreography - a surprising physicality: actors become bodies in motion, often in collision course with each other. Shana Wride's first-rate as Amanda, the mercurial free spirit. As dour Elyot, Sean Murray matches Wride, even some of her mannerisms, as if they're a natural pair, in spite of internecine differences. Manny Fernandes and Jessica John build credible people (Victor, rectitude-squared; Sibyl, arias of giggles) out of thin air. So does Annie Hinton as a maid whose few lines barely qualify as a cameo. Shirley Pierson's costumes are spot on, and Eric Lotze's lighting, especially the rust-colored auras, remarkable.
Critic's Pick.
When
Ongoing until Saturday, July 3, 2010
Hours
| Sundays, 2pm & 7pm |
| Wednesdays, 7:30pm |
| Thursdays, 7:30pm |
| Fridays, 8pm |
| Saturdays, 2pm & 8pm |