Passions bubble and pop in APT’s farcical Fallen Angels

American Players Theatre offers a champagne toast to the 125th anniversary of Noël

Coward’s birth with his effervescent farce, “Fallen Angels.”

Written in 1925 as British women gained more rights and entered public life, one can

imagine that Coward, intimate as he was with some of the biggest names in show

business, was more acquainted with the private lives of high society modern women

than the average husband.

The angels of the title are Julia Sterroll (played with grace and cunning composure by

core company member Phoebe González) and Jane Banbury (played by a glamorously

mercurial Laura Rook, also a core company member). Julia and Jane are lifelong best

friends, married to Fred Sterroll (the sublimely funny Nate Burger, a core company

member) and Willy Banbury (Sam Luis Massaro, light on his feet and loud of wardrobe).

Their husbands underestimate the level of marital satisfaction and worldliness of their

wives.

The play starts with Fred getting ready to leave for a weekend of golf with Willy. Julia,

unsettled by a presentiment during the night, proceeds to solicit Fred’s thoughts on

whether as a married couple they are still “in love” or merely just love each other. Fred

doesn’t seem to feel there is a meaningful difference.

A near hysterical Jane arrives at the Sterroll flat bearing a postcard from Maurice

Duclos, the hero of her grand romance in Venice.

Julia receives a similar postcard from Maurice, the subject of her premarital passion in

Pisa.

Jane and Julia discuss what to do about Maurice’s imminent arrival in London. They

realize the stability of their married life has made them both ripe for a lapse in

judgement, but they swear to uphold their friendship with each other no matter what

happens.

Add to the Act One mix the uncannily knowledgeable, musical, and dexterous new

housekeeper Saunders (played by a scene stealing Colleen Maddon, a longtime core

company member), and then prepare to sit back and watch the cork pop off this bubbly

vintage comedy.

During the play’s second act we watch these elegant friends, as lovely as the long-

stemmed floral arrangements in the parlor, unabashedly recall their rapturous romances

with Maurice.

Director Shannon Cochran is sure handed with Coward’s witty language and the

physical comedy of farce. There are several comedic notes to savor in González and

Rook’s performances, from veiled innuendo to savage shade throwing vibrating below

the surface of their posh manners. And it’s not just the language that slays. There are

delightfully choreographed moments rapturous to watch, even as they rachets up to the

“I Love Lucy” stratosphere.

The set design features a large winding staircase leading from the drawing room to the

front door which the characters use throughout to cleverly reveal their state of mind at

the moment.

APT’s actors are Shakespearean thoroughbreds, trained and practiced for this very

outdoor amphitheater. Line deliveries and gasps easily reach the back row of The Hill

Theatre without amplification or artifice, and they communicate much with mere posture,

step, or a held expression of the face.

The three leading female actors González, Rook and Maddon take no prisoners in Act

Two. Jane and Julia wait endlessly in their sumptuous gowns for Maurice to appear until

their starvation and frayed nerves force them to succumb to their sensual appetites.

Their dinner scene deliciously blends the verbal and physical elements of farce as we

watch them quaffing their pre-dinner martinis, slurping oysters on the half shell, downing

coupes of champagne, and tearing into the main course.

When Maurice still doesn’t materialize after dinner, the women become more reckless

with each other. Coward shows us the impossible bind society places on women

expecting them to be attractive and alluring yet without wants or jealousy.

When their husbands return home, suspicions stirred, Julia and Jane reforge their

alliance to restore domestic harmony. Seeing the two of them sharing a footstool,

leaning into each other, head-to-head like a pair of kittens created a charming picture of

an indelible bond.

Costume designer Fabio Toblini’s shimmering, sleek evening gown designs deserve a

round of applause, especially Julia’s strappy salmon colored number with beguiling

seam details and Jane’s gorgeous gold sheath with black tuille shoulder puffs. Their

roaring twenties duster coats and feathered cloche hats were likewise divine.

APT’s “Fallen Angels” is an absolute scream and an acting tour de force. It is also an

immersive pleasure starting with the strains of merry jazz age orchestral music that

envelops the audience as they make their way up the hill. I saw more than one person

making jitterbug and Charleston like moves as they presented their tickets for ushers to

scan. Likewise, the play’s finale has a delightfully immersive surprise ending.

“Fallen Angels” at American Players Theater runs through Oct. 3 in The Hill Theatre.

For tickets visit www.americanplayers.org.

Photo credit: Michael Brosilow