Review: PRIVATE LIVES at Independent Shakespeare

The scene: 1950's Acapulco. A romantic beachside resort. Amanda and Elyot are a divorced couple on honeymoon with their new partners. When fate puts them in adjoining cabanas, the spark between Amanda and Elyot reignites. Impulsively, they run off together to a Palm Springs hideaway, their new spouses in hot pursuit. What follows is a chaotic escapade that gives this 1930 British classic a 1950s spin.

Noël Peirce Coward sketched out PRIVATE LIVES during two weeks of convalescing from influenza at Shanghai's Cathay Hotel and subsequently completed the play in four days. Prior to its debut at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh on August 18, 1930, Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom objected to the love scene as too risqué for two divorced people married to others to be portrayed on a public stage. Oh, how times have changed. Everything in this case but the chaos.

Independent Shakespeare has certainly created a somewhat "boundless" rendition of this once glittering classic in its attempt to resurrect a sensibly witty though occasionally stodgy, gossamer. Risqué, however, is definitely not an attribution that even has the ability for impact considering modern social constructs, attitudes, and norms that have essentially now recognized this as acceptable. And that might be where this unrevelatory play about two warring divorcees, on the ground level, simply falls down.

What is relevant about Coward's comedy of manners is that at the heart of all the insanity is the contemptuous relationship between Amanda and Elyot who can't seem to get enough of it. Not to mention the physical abuse that has certainly taken place in their past. When you get right down to it, Amanda and Elyot are two people with the enormous blind side of being drawn to one another yet destined to hurt one another; walking a fine line between love and hate, desire and aversion.

Independent Shakespeare's production massively highlights this aspect with boisterous vocal acrimony as well as physical rowdiness. But there is where it most heavily leans. There really isn't much in the way of plot. So, the verbal fencing that Coward wrote into the piece which is reminiscent of former-century drawing-room plays, is an essential component. But that gets lost here with all of the characters. The production lacks the bite that either the play or the dialog demands. The cast has obviously worked on the enunciation of the language, but not the intention which allows you to understand the words, but does nothing to invest the audience in the emotion. Every character is verbally slapping one another in every second of this play. But in this production, you just don't get that.

Less sparkle than petulance, the comedy in the second act bakes like a fallen soufflé - still sweet in the center, but no lift. Still, David Melville delivers a respectably amusing performance as Elyot, even working overtime as a comedic island unto himself. PRIVATE LIVES remains essentially intact, however, if not thoroughly exciting in the hands of director Nikhil Pai.

April 6 - May 7, 2023

Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30
Sundays at 2:00

In the ISC Studio, 3191 Casitas Avenue, #130, Los Angeles, CA 90039

Written by Noël Peirce Coward

Directed by Nikhil Pai

Starring: Melissa Chalsma, David Melville, Brent Charles, Noriani Estevez, and Asha Noel Iyer Stage Managed by Samantha Barrientos

Costumes by Katelyn Lopez

Lighting by Bosco Flanagan

TICKETS: https://iscla.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0S5c00000GeAlpEAF

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