SUU theater dept. presents “Private Lives”

SUU theater dept. presents “Private Lives”

By Ashley Pollock

SUU’s theater department will present “Private Lives,” written by Noël Coward, Feb. 28 and March 4, 8, and 9 at 7:30 p.m. and March 2 at 2 p.m. in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theater in Cedar City.

“’Private Lives’ explores the sometimes volatile nature of our passions for one other,” said director Richard Bugg. “The great love affairs in history have been filled with warring passions and heartaches. Why do our infatuations and passions for someone so often overcome our logic and wisdom, allowing us to return to a lion’s den from which we once escaped? While the demands of life often force the ordinary man or woman to reject such folly, there are those with disposable income (and therefore disposable time) who like to wallow in it. That makes for great comedy.”

“The show is designed in the round, which means there’s an audience on every side of the stage,” said Kenna Funk, senior acting major. “There are a lot of little details to remember but I’ve really loved the opportunity to perform in this set up. I have enjoyed discovering my character, Amanda, and playing around with her spontaneous and independent personality. In some ways she’s quite different from myself so figuring out how she would move or how she would feel about this moment in the show has been really fun!”

“’Private Lives’ is a difficult play to produce these days, particularly because of what has changed in the way relationships are perceived between men and women from the time it was written, as well as some other delicate content issues,” said Maxwell Kunz, also a senior acting major. “To overcome these problems we tried to focus on the theme that will be most palatable to the audience: love. We want to tell a story of people who are in love and how messy, painful, beautiful and hilarious that can be. Every one of these characters has an incredible arch that could be interpreted as a very dramatic progression. However, Noël Coward wrote some of the finest comedy into these lines to give the audience a wonderful roller coaster of laughs.”

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for alumni with card, and $5 for youth. SUU faculty, staff, and students can get in free with a valid ID card. Tickets can be purchased at the America First Event Center box office, at the door the night of the performance, or online at suu.edu/pva.

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