SUU’s Department of Theatre Arts & Dance will present Private Lives, written by Noël Coward, on Feb 28 and March 4, 8, 9, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. and March 2, 2019, at 2 p.m. in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre.
Richard Bugg, director of Private Lives, shares, “Private Lives explores the sometimes volatile nature of our passions for one other. 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.”
Kenna Funk, senior Bachelor of Fine Arts in Classical Acting major, explains, “The show is designed in the round, which means there’s an audience on every side of the stage. There are a lot of little details to remember but I’ve really loved the opportunity to perform in this setup. I have enjoyed discovering my character, Amanda, and playing around with her spontaneous and independent personality. In some ways, she’s quite different from [me] so figuring out how she would move or how she would feel about this moment in the show has been really fun!”
Maxwell Kunz, also a senior Bachelor of Fine Arts in Classical Acting major, says, “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. 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.
For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.suu.edu/pva/ta.
Story by: Ashley Polluck
accent@suunews.net
Photo by: SUU Marketing
