Trash Talkin’

In the tumble-down trailer-park world of “White Trash Privit Lives,” Jerry Springer head-butts Noel Coward--only figuratively--and both come away reeling.

That’s the essence of the Hunger Artists’ spoof of “Private Lives,” Coward’s well-known and frequently produced play of marital bad manners. Kelly Flynn, the Santa Ana theater company’s managing director, has taken the 1930 English comedy and soiled it in very contemporary ways.

Springer, Flynn believes, would enjoy the carnage.

“It’s just plain funny [with] the drinking, fighting and wife-swapping,” he said. “This show has Jerry Springer written all over it.

“Like when they [Ely and ‘Manda] just run off on their spouses on their honeymoons; that’s something you’d see on Springer or Geraldo.”

The basic plot for “White Trash Privit Lives” follows the original closely. Ely and ‘Manda (Elyot and Amanda in “Private Lives”) were married but, when we meet them, are honeymooning with new spouses, Sibyl and Vic (Sibyl and Victor). When Ely and ‘Manda meet, old desires flame and they run off, leaving their mates wondering what happened.

But instead of sticking the foursome in a tony hotel on the French Riviera, Flynn drops them in a tawdry trailer park near Laughlin, Nev. A stylish night out here means the $2.99 casino buffet paid for with a handful of slot-machine quarters.

It’s not clear what Coward’s Elyot and Amanda do for a living (except wear great clothes, sip martinis and spend money), but Flynn’s remake isn’t that vague. Ely is a quick-tempered criminal, and ‘Manda is the kind of girl who knows how to live off the kindness of strangers, male ones. They’re both good at boozing.

“Ely is just shady, probably trafficking in something, whether stolen cars or crystal meth,” Flynn said. “ ‘Manda is a party girl. Kim [Fisher, who plays ‘Manda] describes her as a bowling alley princess. She may have more of a classy past than the others, but she does what she has to to get by.”

So, what would inspire someone to be so mean to “Private Lives”? Besides looking for a little fun, Flynn said, there’s a serious side.

The idea came to him while watching South Coast Repertory’s respectful staging of Coward’s play a year ago. Flynn was struck by the threat of violence that hung over Elyot and Amanda’s combustible relationship.

“It really impressed me how much underlying ugliness in these characters looked so wonderful on the surface,” he explained. “I remember this one point where he says he’d like to cut her head off with an ax, and how much the audience seemed to enjoy that.

“There was this overwhelming feeling that there were many couples in the audience who were relating to it. I thought that would be worth exploring.”

Things get hairy in the second act, after Elyot and Amanda have dumped Sibyl and Victor. Old feuds kick up, and couple fight. At SCR, director David Chambers turned the scene into violent slapstick as the actors threw each other around the stage.

It amounted to spousal abuse, pure and simple, said Flynn, who wondered how that could be depicted in a rawer, more over-the-top setting.

“I wanted to try to go for extremes [and] to see how it worked in a different kind of station. I thought this could bring laughs [but also] get people to connect to some of the deeper themes.”

Flynn realized he’d have to change Coward’s dialogue along with the environment. Instead of Coward’s polished witticisms, the script is peppered with words such as “rasslin’,” “git” instead of “get” and “nuh-uh” in place of “no.”

“We use phrases like ‘excuse me while I go stand barefoot in the kitchen.’ . . . You don’t see those in Coward.”

Flynn said this playfulness shouldn’t be misread as disliking Coward or “Private Lives.” Flynn is a fan, which he thinks is the only proper starting point for a satire.

“I like Coward for much the same reason I like Oscar Wilde and Shaw; it’s that incredibly rich language. I don’t think, personally, that you can pull off a spoof if you don’t really respect the source material.

“It would come off harsh if you didn’t. There’s definitely a difference between mocking something and spoofing it--this is a spoof.”

BE THERE

“White Trash Privit Lives,” Hunger Artists’ Theater, 204 E. 4th St., Santa Ana. 8:30 p.m. today through Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Ends Sunday. $10 and $12. (714) 547-9100.