Kyle T. Hester, Brooke Bundy and Garikayi Mutambirwa (Photo by Cooper Bates)
Reviewed by V Cate
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
Through August 25
Noel Coward’s Design for Living explores the glamorous and calamitous enmeshment of three selfish artists. Written in the 1930s for his close friends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontane (the trio starred together in the original production), both the play’s inherent queerness and its expression of artistic malaise are partly autobiographical.
Design for Living challenges societal norms and conventions, particularly regarding love and fidelity. The plot is simple and symmetrical – Gilda (Brooke Bundy) is an interior designer who finds herself torn between two men: Otto (Garikayi Mutambirwa), a painter, and Leo (Kyle T. Hester), a playwright. Over the course of the show’s six scenes, love, pleasure, and pain are equally doled out between the three. Try as they might, no couple among them is quite complete. Three, in this case, is not a crowd.
The dialogue crackles with wit, offering insights into the complexities of human relationships and the pursuit of personal fulfillment. Coward’s writing is known for being sharp and sophisticated. This production, however, falls short.
The show’s production design is sparse but evocative. Dripping in glamour or personality it isn’t, but the lines of Frederica Nascimento’s scenic design, in tandem with Leigh Allen’s lighting, creates chiaroscuro that feels impressively of the 1930s – Art Deco on a budget. Costume designer Denise Blasor has moments of impressive authenticity, and at times brings a very welcome boldness.
1930s High Society as temporal and cultural context to a somewhat outdated script is missing here. Coward’s exploration of polyamory and unconventional partnerships was daring for its time – the play was even banned in London at the time for its risqué subject matter. However, seeing two queer men and a sexually vibrant woman together in a ménage à trois is simply not as mind-blowing for a modern audience as it might have been for one in Coward’s time. The production’s chosen remedy for this discordance is to strip the script of its subtlety and subtext in favor of a blunter approach – but left on the cutting room floor are any trace of nuance or tension. The result is an ensemble that largely falls somewhere between human and caricature, without knowing quite where it wants to be.
Bart DeLorenzo’s direction of this sultry, ribald romantic comedy is surprisingly humorless, innocuous. Chemistry is missing across the board. Many of the meaningful moments written thoughtfully into the script are left behind. And with such an on-the-surface approach, the performers are simply given nowhere to go emotionally, making any comedic or dramatic twists and turns appear as unsurprising and inevitable happenstance.
In addition to forging a life outside of societal approval, the play embraces a stance of self-absorption as a necessary part of living as a successful artist. Gilda, Otto, and Leo act as they please, without real remorse even when causing others pain. even as they barrel toward lives ruled by desire. The love shared between the three flourishes due in part to this trio of narcissists feeling fully seen and desired by the other two. And, there is surely an erotic enjoyment in taking what should be off limits.
The fact that this production seems sweetly oblivious to the theme of artistic entitlement inadvertently poses an intriguing question regarding the place of theatre and entertainment in an artistic and financially bereft social landscape. What does an audience want or need? And in absence of either, why should the audience care?
Odyssey Theater, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West LA. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm, Wed. July 17 and Aug. 7, 8 pm; thru Aug. 25. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes with one 15-minute intermission. https:odysseytheatre.com
