Private Lives Set To Break Records At The Rep

Few people can make spousal abuse laugh-out-loud funny, yet that's what Noel Coward did with Private Lives. (Though maybe Yanni should get an honorable mention for musical abuse.) "Certain women should be beaten regularly," proclaims Elyot Chase, with conviction, "like a gong." Last night's audience erupted with laughter, as if they'd never seen Sleeping With The Enemy.

The trick is to make it tasteful. When the curtain rises on the art deco, fairytale hotel where the newlyweds Elyot and Sybyl Chase and Victor and Amanda Prynne are beginning their honeymoons, you know Stanley Kowalski would never book a room there. The Rep's casting is impeccable: Suzanne Bouchard (Amanda) and Rob Breckenridge (Elyot) sizzle and spark as the ex-lovers who combust unexpectedly when it turns out they've taken adjacent honeymoon suites.

The winsome Nikki Coble, as Elyot's doll-like new wife, and stodgy Allen Fitzpatrick, as Amanda's guileless new husband, know exactly how much scenery to steal, and when to let Elyot and Amanda shine. They're funny without crossing the line to cartoon. The same is true of Lori Larsen, who artfully combines savoir-faire and slapstick in her French maid Louise.

In other hands, Private Lives could be a tragedy -- the story of two people who love too deeply not to wound each other deeply, and who leave a trail of romantic wreckage behind them. Coward chose to celebrate the humor in the situation, and the laughter is cathartic. But we also want to single out director Gabriel Barre. His staging keeps the actors from becoming spokespersons for the extremely witty living in gorgeously appointed sets.

The action is grounded in small, day-to-day moments, while allowing for out-sized theatrical gesture (as when a collection of 78 records hilariously bites the dust). More than anything, this is what gives the play the emotional heft it needs, to see two people trying, perhaps vainly, simply to live together. The Rep presents Private Lives through April 1. You can check the calendar and buy tickets here.