The Melbourne Theatre Company’s take on Noël Coward’s Private Lives dutifully recreates the glamorous, thoughtless pleasure of high society darlings drunk on freedom and choice. It is, really, the perfect theatre for post-GFC audiences; it’s crammed with enough tuxes and to-die-for gowns to make even Mad Men aficionados swoon (you can thank Set and Costume Designer Tracy Grant Lord for that). Yet for all its dazzle, this production struggles to eke out the kind of on-stage chemistry necessary to make such story elements seem plausible or, at the very least, make its characters seem worthy of empathy.
The premise of the play is relatively simple: Elyot (Leon Ford) and Sybil (Lucy Durack) are on honeymoon and happen to be staying in the same hotel in France as Amanda (Nadine Garner) and Victor (John Leary). Everything’s posh and chock-full of upper-crust English accents (think ‘dahhling!’) until former husband-and-wife Elyot and Amanda spot each other and convince themselves their still-burning love can overcome the tempestuous relationship they had in the past.
It’s easy to see the genius behind Coward’s composition; the main four characters are allowed the honour of being distinct, interesting, fallible human beings. But if there’s chemistry lacking between the two former flames then no amount of Coward-esque quips and daring discussion of female sexuality can save the whole show from being just a tiny bit lacklustre. Still, some reserve in this play is probably a good thing: without the restraint exhibited by all four of the main cast (particularly Durack, who plays the particularly tiresome Sybil), these larger-than-life characters would quickly become tedious.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is French maid and comedic relief Louise (Julie Forsyth) who steals the show with her barely intelligible mutterings and joyous slapstick routines. She seems like an affectionate moral anchor in the play: while four rich, indulged prats bicker with each other, she tells them to kiss her ass with the kind of disdain only acceptable when delivered in that sharp French tongue.
BY SIOBHAN ARGENT
