THEATER REVIEWS : ‘Private Lives’ Thrives on Expert Control, Rhythm : In this La Habra Depot Theatre production, Louise Martin and Rick Watson superbly handle their verbal (and physical) sparring.

There are some plays that would be impossible to update. And a good thing, too. They belong in their period, they speak only of that period, and for today’s audiences they make an emotional historical connection that history books can’t come close to.

Noel Coward’s “Private Lives” is one of those, a catalogue of dressing gowns, stem glasses, potent cheap music, a long-ago world whose feel, rhythms and aura have been re-created at the La Habra Depot Theatre with welcome attention to style by director Phyllis Gitlin.

Coward was accused early in his career of being “thin” and “brittle”--which he was, and never more so than in this classic art deco comedy. Those are qualities on which Louise Martin (who plays Amanda) and Rick Watson (as Elyot) both have a firm grip. They handle the verbal (and physical) sparring of the reunited divorcees with expert control and a fine sense of the timing and rhythm so important to playwrights of high comedy.

Meanwhile, the small but very plum role of the French-speaking maid is turned, as it should be, into an amusing cameo by Tiffany Sauceda, who speaks the lines with enough authority to leave the impression that she might be Provencal , trying to be classy.

Larry Watts’ settings for both the Riviera balcony where Amanda and Elyot unexpectedly meet and for Amanda’s Parisian flat are just right: the balcony in pale marble with cupids on pedestals, the flat in the strong contrasts of art deco. With Tom Phillips, Watts also has designed a fine set of costumes. The women’s period gowns are particularly notable.

But Brad Steward’s lighting design is sometimes a bit garish--as are the performances of Dani Ballew as Elyot’s bride Sibyl and Mitchell Nunn as Amanda’s groom Victor. Each is acceptable--particularly Ballew for her fine comic sense--but neither wears the period comfortably. Ballew has a tendency to screech when playing angry, and Sibyl is just too refined for that. Nunn plays Victor’s pomposity with too much emphasis. As Coward himself said, both Sibyl and Victor must have qualities that would make it logical for Elyot and Amanda to have fallen for them (Coward cast the young Olivier as Victor).

Nunn and Ballew do manage a very good, very funny slow build to their final argument. And even their near-misses don’t take the shine off this Amanda and Elyot, who glow with fondness for a time when theater still could allow itself to be thin and brittle, and totally entertaining.

* “Private Lives,” La Habra Depot Theatre, 311 S. Euclid St., La Habra. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Ends April 2. $8-$10. (310) 905-9708, (310) 905-9625. Running time: 2 hours. Rick Watson: Elyot

Louise Martin: Amanda

Dani Ballew: Sibyl

Mitchell Nunn: Victor

Tiffany Sauceda: Louise

A La Habra Depot Theatre production of Noel Coward’s comedy, produced by Chris Montgomery, directed by Phyllis Gitlin. Scenic design: Larry Watts. Costume design: Watts and Tom Phillips. Lighting design: Brad Steward. Stage manager: Terri Russell.