"I'm not going out on a limb to say Design for Living, Noël Cowards' 1933 play, is funny. Take, for instance, this exchange between former lovers Otto and Gilda about her beauty routine: Otto: ...Your skin's much better. Gilda: It ought to be, I've been taking a lot of trouble with it. Otto: What sort of trouble? Gilda: Oh, just having it pushed and rubbed and slapped about."
"On the surface, the plot is all froth and fun, involving various couplings among its three main characters: Gilda, Otto and Leo. In Act I, Gilda (Caitlin Rose) is an interior designer who lives with Otto (Joe Cullen), a painter, in a shabby Paris apartment, when Leo (K.J. Snyder), a playwright, who also loves Gilda - and Otto - shows up and shakes things up."
"Over the course of the play, the three characters all become more successful, and the progressively fancier sets (designed by Mouawad, Notion, and Jim Peerenboom) reflect this upward mobility. Shifting from the subdued palette of the Paris apartment, with its threadbare couch and a pile of empty paint cans, for example, the London flat is decorated with velvety furniture and rich autumnal colors."
Design for Living follows Gilda, Otto, and Leo through three acts set in Paris, London, and New York as their romantic entanglements shift and evolve. Gilda lives with Otto in a shabby Paris apartment in Act I, and Leo's arrival complicates their relationship. Act II finds Gilda and Leo together in a London flat until Otto's return rearranges the romantic dynamic. In Act III Gilda is living in New York with Ernest while Leo and Otto attempt to convince her to join their ménage. Jerry Mouawad emphasizes darker emotional undertones alongside the play's witty double entendres. Progressive set design reflects the characters' increasing success.
Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News
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