Theater review: Playhouse on Park's risk is rewarded: Adapting the middle act of Noël Coward's "Private Lives" is a streaming success

Feb. 18—WEST HARTFORD — As the COVID-19 pandemic continues on, coming toward its one-year mark of shutting down live theater across the country, I've enjoyed — for the most part — seeing how theaters and performers have adjusted to the "new normal" and found ways to continue crafting their art.

Playhouse on Park, under the direction of Sean Harris, has gone forward with a novel and charming little exercise.

With actors Ezra Barnes and Veanne Cox, Harris has taken the middle act of Noël Coward's classic comedy "Private Lives" and adapted it to a 45-minute one-act play, presented through the theater's streaming service through Feb. 28.

"Elyot & Amanda All Alone"

WHAT: Second act of Noël Coward's "Private Lives" presented as a one-act play.

WHERE: Streaming through Feb. 28 at: www.playhouseonpark.org

PRODUCTION: Written by Noël Coward; Directed by Sean Harris

TICKETS: $20 for a 48-hour stream of the show. Artists of any kind who are out of work due to Covid-19 can purchase $10 tickets with the code C-ARTIST2021

CHARACTER.......................................ACTOR

Elyot..........................................Ezra Barnes

Amanda....................................Veanne Cox

This adaptation, approved by the Noël Coward estate, has a few details that should be fleshed out a little more for audiences as some of the set-up makes things feel slightly confusing, especially for people who know the play.

The full version of the play starts with the two title characters, Elyot (Barnes) and Amanda (Cox), recently divorced from each other, on honeymoons with their respective new spouses at the same hotel. After an initial awkwardness, the two rediscover why they had originally fallen in love and run off together.

The two end up at Amanda's flat in Paris, where the second act commences. The third act is inconsequential as only the second act is addressed in this production.

The biggest hurdle for me to get over wasn't that this adaptation had a contemporary setting. It was that the apartment the play was filmed in didn't feel like it belonged to Amanda. In fact, it is Barnes' real apartment and his performance as Elyot shows a familiarity with the space that didn't logically work if we're supposed to take it as Amanda's place. Since there is no real explanation to this, accepting the scene as being Elyot's apartment instead of Amanda's shouldn't be too big a leap, even for "Private Lives" fans.

Over the course of the 45 minutes, the two former lovers exchange wistful affections interspersed with bitter barbs, reminiscing on better times.

The chemistry between Barnes and Cox is what keeps "Elyot and Amanda" moving. There is an affection that the two have for each other and it comes through in their performances. Barnes, especially, will walk about and preen toward Cox, reminiscent of Kevin Kline's Broadway turn as Garry Essendine in another Coward play "Present Laughter" several years ago.

As domestic and refined as the dialogue is, Barnes and Cox give Elyot and Amanda an animalistic quality; a battle of primal lust for each other that they resist due to their enduring distrust. It's a delightful contrast that keeps the story moving forward.

The camerawork for the play is pretty simple, it's mostly three or four shots that cover about half of Barnes' living room, primarily focusing on the piano and sofa that the characters navigate around. I'm not certain if the performance was done all in one take. I'd like to think so, and it probably was, but there are little editing tweaks that could have helped the flow of the story from shot-to-shot. A couple seconds trimmed off the end or beginning of a couple of shots would have created a better flow of drama.

"Elyot and Amanda" was a risk for Playhouse on Park in its concept and execution, but I think it succeeded in doing something that was bold and inventive with a classic piece. I hope that maybe after opening their doors, hopefully by midyear, Playhouse on Park can bring the full play to its stage. I'll be there for sure.