Coward successfully revived

While the current Petaluma production of Noel Coward's 1930 comedy "Private Lives" offers many memorable moments, one in particular stands out:

Red-haired and doe-eyed, the wickedly fetching Amanda Prynne (Tara Blau) dances around downstage in red silky pajamas. Meanwhile, Elyot Chase (John Craven) sits in his ornate dressing gown, upstage at the piano, playing and singing Coward's satirical ditty "Mad Dogs and Englishmen." Grinning snidely, all wit and urbanity, he could be Coward himself.

As crafted by the English actor, director, playwright and songwriter, Coward's protagonists, Amanda and Elyot, are the perfect couple.

Never mind the lies, infidelities, constant drinking and occasional fisticuffs. They're in love. And divorced. And they're both cheating on their new spouses, whom they deserted on the honeymoon night.

Gleefully iconoclastic, Coward's clever, articulate script mocks the sacred and embraces the naughty, all with a frantic sense of fun that somehow seems innocent.

Directed by Carol Mayo for the Ensemble Theater Collective, or ETC, the actors maintain a brisk pace, crisp English diction and a reckless commitment to their eccentric, sometimes despicable characters.

Chest puffed out and chin tucked back, Dodds Delzell masters classically British bluster as Amanda's cuckolded new hubby, Victor Prynne.

Rebecca Castelli, as Elyot's spurned new bride, Sibyl Chase, consistently underscores the acid dialogue with a petulant stamp of the foot or a positively corrosive stare.

Elyot, ever slick and sophisticated, merely mocks her. "Don't quibble, Sibyl," he barks. (Any playwright who dares to write a line like that deserves immortal fame for his audacity alone.)

Obviously coached to go for broke, while maintaining complete comic control of their performances, the entire cast excels. As the Parisian housemaid Louise, Christine Renaudin only gets a moment onstage, but even she makes the most of it, mugging fiercely and prowling her corner of the set.

This is a play firmly rooted in its time -- the cheerfully bitter end of the raucous 1920s. To make sense, the show must look historically authentic. Costume designer Lisa Eldredge's prim English suits and elegant '20s gowns, and set designer David Wright's detailed second-act drawing room help make this production instantly convincing.

But ultimately, this is a great wordsmith's showpiece and it is the company's devotion to his vicious banter and satirical stance that make the ETC's revival of this classic such a delight.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com.