PRIVATE LIVES

Scratch a tuxedo-clad Noel Coward hero and you'll find Stanley Kowalski.
     Not that Coward's "Private Lives" would ever have Elyot Chase yelling "Stella!"
     Despite his rich veneer of sophistication, Elyot gets down and dirty when the wrong button is pushed.
     His ex-wife Amanda is the wrong button.
     Coward's socialite women don't fare any better. In matters of the heart, they can also get pretty ugly.
     At the risk of sounding sadistic, that's what probably makes "Private Lives" so appealing. They sport Fortune 500 lifestyles, but the four characters in this biting comedy sometimes behave like Neanderthals.
     But this is Noel Coward, who packs his punches in velvety language.
     Warren Players Theater's take on "Private Lives" is wickedly delicious.
     As the strains of "What Kind of Fool Am I?" are played on the piano, the first act opens with honeymooning Elyot (John Shaughnesy) and Sibyl (Wendy Gee) sitting down at a Las Vegas restaurant.
     Sibyl can't help peppering Elyot with questions about his first wife. At first he grudgingly humors her. They they leave for a drink in the casino.
     Entering from stage left are the newly wed Amanda (Deborah Shaughnesy) and Victor (Lee Denlinger). In parallel patter, he drives her to distraction by asking the same sorts of questions.
     This being theater, the exes meet, sparks rekindle and Elyot and "Mandy" run off together.
     There's a saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
     That's what happens with these two. They never dealt with the destructive bickering that led them to divorce court the first time.
     What's interesting is how Coward works his magic/voodoo on the dumped spouses.
     With only four speaking parts, the play demands first-rank performances from everyone. The Shaughnesys are totally convincing as the tempestuous couple whose bliss so quickly goes south no matter what they do.
     Lee Denlinger's Victor and Wendy Gee's Sybil also show they have what it takes to ride this nasty roller coaster.
     The staging is just right with the restaurant scene on the audience floor and Act II, which takes place in Amanda's apartment on the actual stage of the Woman's Club.
     From "Stardust Memories" to Aretha Franklin singing "Chain of Fools", the music underscores each scene in which it is used.
     Aretha wasn't around in Noel Coward's day. There are a few other liberties in the production but they all work.