As anyone who's been in a long term relationship knows, the people we're closest to can drive us absolutely crazy. Well-known playwright/songwriter/actor Noel Coward was certainly familiar with this truth when he penned the play "Private Lives," now in a richly amusing production by First Folio Shakespeare Festival indoors at the Mayslake Peabody Estate Forest Preserve.
Elyot and Amanda were once married, but they divorced after their constant fighting (they even came to blows) grew to be too much to bear. When they run into each other while both of them are honeymooning with new spouses in France, their old spark is renewed with comically disastrous results.
The play is not out to change the world, and neither is this production. Instead, "Private Lives" seeks to amuse, with perhaps a bit of romance and sentiment thrown in. Toward this aim, the production is gifted to have at its disposal leads Joseph Wycoff and Melanie Keller. They both have the chemistry between them, both romantic and violent, that makes their deeds and misdeeds so fascinating to watch for nearly an entire evening.
Joseph Wycoff in particular nails the cynically deadpan and world-weary approach to Elyot that Noel Coward must have had when he originally played the role opposite childhood friend Gertrude Lawrence.
The two jilted spouses that Elyot and Amanda leave behind are often thankless roles. In this production, however, Christian Gray (as Amanda's new husband Victor) and Leah Wagner (as Elyot's second wife Sybil) do manage to mine comic gold out of their stage time, with Gray skewering the macho and overly proper bluster of certain men and Wagner entertainingly dissolving into a tearful ninny at the slightest provocation.
There are a few moments that seem a bit off, but they may be a result of dated aspects of the piece; personally, I'm made very uncomfortable by the exchange of slaps during the second act. But in the end the inescapable truth of the play shines through: when it comes to love, it’s possible for someone to be a perfect match...made in hell.
Playing indoors at the Mayslake Peabody Estate Forest Preserve; 1717 W. 31st St.; Oakbrook; $15-$25. Runs through March 19; 8 p.m. Wednesday, Friday-Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday.
