Private Lives and The People Next Door

Spousal abuse may no longer seem a suitable subject for slapstick shenanigans, but in every other respect Noel Coward’s “intimate comedy” Private Lives, now on view at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, remains as topical and delightful as the day the play debuted in 1930. Under Kim Rubenstein’s direction, even the physical blows that fractious ex-spouses Elyot and Amanda rain upon each other are as cleverly choreographed as a danse sauvage. Of course, no real damage is done, except to set designer Kris Stone’s period-perfect props — and to the childish adults’ sense of amour propre.

If you enjoy witty banter decanted with optimal fizz, this is a pip of a production. Tom Hewitt, last seen on Broadway in the title role of Dracula, is adept at gradually unveiling stuffy Elyot’s inner lotus-eater. Shannon Cochran, who won an Obie Award for her performance in Bug, adapts to the rarefied milieu of rich Continental drifters as if born to it; she’s innately elegant, whether striking intimidating poses in a fur-cuffed traveling suit or executing silly dances in silk pajamas. (Candice Donnelly’s costuming for Amanda is spot-on).

As Victor, Amanda’s freshly minted replacement husband, Will Kempe conveys the perfect mix of cluelessness and starry-eyed ardor; he even echoes, seemingly effortlessly, the intonations of matinee idols from the era. Only Christian Corp as Sibyl strikes an off-note, and that’s largely due to ill-conceived costuming. As Elyot’s brand-new bride, Corp arrives on the scene sporting a marcelled platinum wig that resembles a dead albino rat. Try as she might — and Corp has a wonderful, twitchy way of letting us see this presumably innocent conniver switch gears whenever her self-interest is threatened — a vital element of the character is sacrificed at the outset.

It’s impossible to imagine that Elyot plucked this flower fresh from her family’s bosom in the English countryside; indeed, from the evidence here, Sibyl is a doxie who must have already spent a good decade on the music-hall circuit. The revelation of her venality and rapaciousness ought to be incremental, in counterpoint to Elyot and Amanda’s journey to sincere — if strife-ridden — affection. Still, Corp plays the role with plenty of oomph, especially once Sibyl decides to strip off the gloves.

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You couldn’t imagine a setting further removed from the moneyed enclaves of Deauville and Paris than the grotty London council flat occupied by one Nigel in Henry Adam’s The People Next Door, a 2003 Edinburgh Fringe Festival hit that’s now playing at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

A crack-sniffing slacker on permanent disability for some sort of unspecified psychiatric issue, Nigel is constantly fearful. At any rate, this is the extent of the characterization that actor Manu Narayan gives him, constantly reverting to a cowering cringe. Soon enough, Nigel has good reason to be afraid: a rogue cop (Christopher Innvar, achieving an impressive odiousness) coerces him into a becoming a mole at a local mosque.

The setup seems to augur an atmosphere of Pinteresque menace but, alas, this “dark comedy” is all too mechanical — that is, when it’s not lapsing into sentimentality: Nigel forms a misfit alliance with both an abused boy (a believable James Miles) and the meddling Scottish widow (Marcia Jean Kurtz) next door. The script is indeed very dark, relying as it does on negative racial stereotypes and even managing to work in some backhanded gay-bashing. But don’t feel bad if, when visiting New Haven, you find yourself more strongly drawn to Cowardly badinage at the Long Whart.