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24 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday March 19, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Artscene Oakville Beaver · WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008 Oakville Players present classic Noel Coward comedy By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF T he moment divorced couple Elyot and Amanda discover they're honeymooning with their new spouses at the same hotel in Paris ­ and are staying next door to one another ­ is absolutely priceless. The gasps, the shock, and the uncomfortable conversation that follows is one of many laugh-out-loud moments in the Oakville Players' production of Noel Coward's Private Lives, which opens tomorrow at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. "I find this to be one of the funniest shows that I've ever done," said THEA award-winner Adrian Gorrissen, who plays Elyot. "It's typical sort of English humour," added director David Nash, "you know, dig, dig, dig." The basic premise is Elyot and Amanda have divorced, and chosen new partners who are "the exact opposite of one another," Gorrissen explains. "I think Elyot and Amanda were happy, they just didn't realize it." They reunite in Paris on their respective honeymoons, where Amanda realizes she should never have married Victor, and Elyot has the same realization about his new wife, Sybil. Leaving Sybil is a mistake on Elyot's part, says Danielle Capretti, who plays the younger, often insecure, Sybil. "Sybil is every man's dream. Very pretty, naïve, and compliant," said a smiling Capretti, who recently moved from Croatia to Oakville, and is acting in the second Canadian production of her career. "He must really love Amanda if he leaves this `every man's dream' for her." Capretti says her character goes through the "most significant transformation" of anyone in the play. "This horrible experience she has with this man (Elyot) turns her into a very assertive, take-charge woman," she said. And she ends up with a romantic interest in Amanda's husband, Victor, played by Barnaby Clunie. It's pretty much a swap between the couples. Clunie, who is acting in his first production since high school, describes DEREK WOOLLAM/ OAKVILLE BEAVER OPENS TOMORROW: The cast of the Oakville Players' production of Private Lives rehearses for the comedy, which opens Thursday at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. Left to right are Barnaby Clunie as Victor, Shelley Kidwell-Eckert as Amanda, Megan Brady as Louise,Adrian Gorrissen as Elyot and Danielle Capretti as Sibyl. Victor as "not very clever, very solid, traditional, and not very witty." Once he sees Amanda drawn back to Elyot, he doesn't know how to react. "He's really overwhelmed by these events," said Clunie. "He tries to be a man, and be reasonable, and yet if necessary as a last resort, threatens violence, but in a very civilized way." Clunie says Victor is drawn initially to Amanda because she's nothing like him. "He finds in Amanda someone refreshingly different than he would have counted himself having. Amanda is vivacious, the life of the party, very sensual, outgoing." And according to Shelly Kidwell-Eckert, who plays Amanda, her character has "convinced herself that she's in love with a boring, not so smart, good looking kind of guy" in Victor. "In reality, she's still in love with her first husband," said Kidwell-Eckert. She describes Amanda as "a woman before her time," which shows, as Private Lives is set in the 1930s. See Private page 25 Easter Sunday Brunch at the Holiday Inn Select Oakville @ Bronte Available Seatings 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m. Adults $24.95 · Children $9.95 (ages 3-12) · Seniors $22.95 Reservations Required 905-847-1000, Ext. 6200 · Carved Ham with a Pineapple Glaze · Roast Top Sirloin of Beef · Roasted Chicken with Forest Mushrooms and Tomatoes · Braised Lamb Shanks · Grilled Atlantic Salmon with Lemon Tarragon Cream · Scalloped Potatoes · Assorted Freshly Baked Breakfast Pastries · Yogurts, Cereals, Fresh Fruit · Farmers Breakfast - Sausage and Bacon · Buttermilk Pancakes and French Toast · Waffles and Omelette Station · Fresh Seafood Station with Oysters, Shrimp & Mussels · Variety of Salads: Spring, Tomato, Succotash, Mushroom, Pasta · Chef's Kettle of the Day · Dessert Table with Assorted Squares, Pies, Tarts and Cakes Ph: 905-847-1000 F: 905-847-0032 Toll Free: 1-800-880-3188 www.hioakvillebronte.ca 2525 Wyecroft Road (at Bronte) · Oakville