Loving those hateful cads in ‘Private Lives’

Elyot (Phil Kilbourne) and his new wife Sibyl (Tracee Chimo), are well-off middle-class Brits spending their 1930 honeymoon at a seaside resort in the north of France. It's his second marriage and he brings with him the baggage, including negative references to his former spouse, that such unions are often forced to shoulder.

Unbeknown to them, Elyot's former mate, the sophisticated and at times wild Amanda (Sara Whitcomb), herself newly married to the urbane Victor (Buzz Roddy), occupies the adjacent honeymoon suite. You see what's coming.

Once Elyot and Amanda discover one another on the shared terrace, the plot begins to percolate. Surprised and upset, they at first urge their new spouses to vacate the hotel with them "instantly," then slowly come to realize they are still mad for each other. What to do?

Showing almost complete disregard for Sibyl and Victor's feelings, the two reunited lovers decamp to Amanda's Paris apartment. There the very traits that helped to break up their first marriage once more rear their ugly heads. A real "battle of the sexes" ensues, one that includes a spirited physical assault by both parties. Coward here portrays human nature at its worst, and somehow derives laughs.

Theirs can only be described as an alternating love/hate relationship.

When the hapless Victor and Sibyl eventually turn up, the dialogue becomes even more vicious, and the comedy continues on its downward course.

Why are we laughing? Why are these mean-spirited people so funny?

Kilbourne, a long-time local favorite with over 60 roles in the Valley, and Whitcomb, a New Century Theatre veteran, are the stars of this show. They were born to act in Coward plays. Still, were they to play their roles too broadly and over the top, the audience would rightly judge this comedy of manners "thin," "brittle," "tenuous" and a mere entertainment, charges once made of it.

Fortunately, their nuanced performances reveal something more - what is going on in their "private selves." In the process, each becomes more human.

Roddy's Victor and newcomer Chimo's perky Sibyl, both, in the playwright's phrase, "ninepins to be knocked over," make the most of their lesser roles.

Kristina Klemetti, as Louise, the French-spouting maid, is effective in her walk-on part.

I enjoyed the swanky sets, period costumes and Elyot's "water glass" numbers in Act Two. All added to the many pleasures of the evening.

It is only later, after leaving the theater, that we may question why we laughed at these disagreeable people saying clever but nasty things to one another.

The world on display here is England's moneyed middle class at the start of Britain's Depression. These well-dressed, amoral, world-travelers who speak so wittily and live in such stylish dwellings were, in 1930, losing status. It is a world to which Coward, born into a family of more modest means, aspired.

Is the playwright showing us how vacuous this class really was? Is "Private Lives," as funny as it is, to be written off as a mere divertissement? Or is something more going on here? Could Coward also be saying, " They may be well-off, but they've got their problems."

You'll need decide for yourself.

"Private Lives" runs through Saturday at the Pioneer Valley Summer Theatre, 19 Payson Ave., Easthampton. Curtain is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $29.50 and $26.50. Call 529-3434.

July 10th index	|	back to the Entertainment page	|	Listening Room casts hush on Monday night music