Noel Kidding

As the summer movies clang and sputter and the summer musicals tra-la-la to no great effect, there are just two choices this summer for those seeking fun with their brains still on. There’s Knocked Up, of course, a love story whose odd particulars still make more sense than all that pretending-to-kill-myself-is-the-answer stuff in Romeo and Juliet. And then there’s Noel Coward’s Private Lives, the season-opening comedy from the Kansas City Actors Theatre, tonight at Union Station’s City Stage (18 West Pershing). The story of a divorced couple who, upon remarrying new spouses, find themselves honeymooning in adjoining suites, Lives is smart fun even if the characters themselves might prefer that it isn’t. “Let’s blow trumpets and squeakers and enjoy the party as much as we can,” suggests remarried Eloyt, “like very small, quite idiotic schoolchildren.” With Coward’s sharp plotting and glistening dialogue and veteran director Mark Robbins guiding a solid cast through all the hither-and-thither, this has all the signs of a worthy follow-up to last year’s extraordinary Talley plays. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call 816-235-6222. l Private Lives
June 29-Aug. 26