British intelligence
Noël Coward’s “Private Lives” is one of the most British of comedies – which means that Trevor Rawlins, straight out of London, is a natural choice to direct this Spokane Civic Theatre production.
“Noël Coward represents a very particular kind of Britishness,” said Rawlins. “This play really looks at British manners and how British people behave with each other. So a large part of what I bring to the production is a background in those ways of being British.”
Ironically, “Private Lives” takes place entirely in a hotel on the French Riviera. But the guests at that hotel – Elyot and his second wife Sibyl, Amanda and her second husband Victor – are extremely English, and possessed of a dry, sophisticated and somewhat jaundiced wit.
The comedy results from the fact that Elyot and Amanda were once married to each other. They find themselves in adjacent rooms on their respective honeymoons. Sparks fly.
“One of the surprising things about this play, is that you expect it to be a comedy of words because it’s Noël Coward,” said Rawlins. “But there is a fair amount of physical comedy as well. There are fights, there are dances, and all sorts of physical comedy.”
Rawlins has worked extensively as an actor, director and drama teacher in England and New Zealand. His most recent jobs include teaching at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London and a role as Rev. Justin Symonds on the long-running British TV soap “Family Affairs.”
How did he land this Spokane directing job?
“Yvonne (Johnson, the Civic’s executive artistic director) and I were at grad school together in London, doing the same master’s degree course in contemporary theater practice,” said Rawlins. “We’ve been in touch ever since and both happened to be in London over the New Year. She asked me to come over and do ‘Philadelphia Story.’ “
“Philadelphia Story,” originally scheduled for this Civic Main Stage slot, didn’t work out because of a difficulty in casting the male roles. Johnson and Rawlins switched to “Private Lives” since it was from the same era, the 1930s, and had the same comic tone.
“It also seemed to work well, seeing as how I’m British,” said Rawlins.
His cast, of course, will be American. That will present fewer problems than you might think.
“We approach the characters as human beings first and we don’t get too hung up on the accents,” said Rawlins. “Most English actors have to work very hard on the accents, too, because if you hear a recording of Noël Coward, he sounds very different than what you’d hear today (in England). So a lot of the challenges are the same ones that we face at home anyway.”
Coward wrote “Private Lives” in 1930 as a vehicle for himself and the great actress Gertrude Lawrence in London. They came to Broadway in 1931 to reprise their roles.
“For me, it’s very tempting to call this Coward’s masterpiece,” said Rawlins. “It crystallizes everything Noel Coward is about.”