After a couple of rabble-rousing, politically-bent productions, Petaluma’s Mercury Theater shifts to British comedy with their production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives. The Michael Fontaine-directed production runs through Mar. 21.
The play, written in 1930, has served as a vehicle for some of the top performers of the past century, including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton whose well-known public lives served the story of a bickering divorced couple well.
The French seaside resort honeymoon of Sybil (Katherine Rupers) and Elyot (Lukas Raphael) Chase is off to an inauspicious start as Sybil seems to be fixated on the subject of Elyot’s ex-wife. Little does she know that the suite next door is occupied by that ex, Amanda Prynne (Ilana Niernberger), who’s on her honeymoon with her new husband Victor (Zane Walters). Conveniently, Victor seems to be as obsessed with Elyot as Sybil is with Amanda. With a shared terrace between the two suites, it’s just a matter of time before the exes meet…