|
|
Noel Coward's 1930 play "Private Lives" is the next offensive, hitting Lincoln tonight at 7:30 in the Haymarket Theater, 803 Q St.
"It's a battle of the sexes and full of raging hormones," director Robert Bonaventura said. "Men and women will love the show."
The show begins five years after main characters Amanda and Elyot get divorced. The two have since moved on and remarried. The play opens when the two couples arrive at a hotel for their respective honeymoons and find that they are sharing a suite.
Coward's distinctive writing brings physical and verbal humor to the surface as these two couples battle their pasts and feelings and contemplate their futures. Will Amanda and Elyot rekindle old flames and fall in love once again?
Bonaventura refused to give away the ending, saying, "You'll have to come see it!"
Romantic comedies tend to be targeted towards women, but this play offers something for everyone, he said.
"Any man can relate to raging hormones," Bonaventura said. "Women aren't always right; sometimes the men are. Women aren't always on pedestals, either."
Elyot Chase is a "flippant, high, upper-crest British guy who tries not to take anything in life seriously," said Sean Schmeits, a Lincoln resident who plays Elyot.
"He's a character you see in a lot of British comedies - very aloof, very sarcastic."
Mastering an uppity British accent has been challenging for Schmeits, but he said he has it down, adding that the accent has allowed him to get in touch with someone that's very different from himself.
In a show where physicality and emotionality dominate, Elyot has a surprisingly small emotional arc of growth.
"He tries to elevate himself above all emotion and attachment, but now has to deal with all these things like marriage and commitment," Schmeits said. "He has a hard time doing that without being sarcastic. It's a little inner struggle."
The process for putting the show together has been terrific for both Bonaventura and Schmeits. Both have enjoyed the cast, calling it "talented" in a variety of ways. Bonaventura finds this cast and show especially unique because it's his Lincoln directorial debut.
"It's a really solid cast," Schmeits said. "It's great working with (Bonaventura). It's his first time directing in the local scene, but he has a big background and lots of experience."
"Private Lives" runs tonight through May 6, and tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance from the Haymarket Theatre.
"I always tell people to come with someone they love," Bonaventura said. "It's the type of play you want to share with someone."
