NAPA VALLEY PLAYHOUSE OPENED NOEL COWARD’S “FALLEN ANGELS,” a comic send-up of marriage and loyalty, to a full crowd at the River Park Shopping Center theater last Friday. Jessica Loesch and Sarah Lundstrom are bright and funny in the lead roles as married friends Julia and Jane, respectively, each easily carrying her part of extensive one-on-one dialogue and delighting audiences with bright delivery of Coward’s signature humor.

Chad Yarish, who stole the show in the lead of “Harvey” at the Playhouse last spring, shines again here as Julia’s proper Londonite husband Fred Sterroll — the name being a play on words that exemplifies Coward’s clean-cut yet incisive sense of humor. In the opening scene, Fred appears at the breakfast table in golfing knickers and vest, chatting brisquely with his wife as he waits for his friend Willy to come by and take him out for a game.

Enter Saunders (Kathryn Fletcher), the know-it-all house servant, to break the monotony with a subtly suggestive comment about the balls Fred will use in his upcoming game. Delivery is everything in this particular brand of humor and Fletcher manages it grandly. Between Saunders’ sly expression and Fred’s politely astonished reaction, the stage is set for a delightful trip through this nicely naughty comic portrait of after-the-honeymoon young married life.

Before her husband leaves for his game, Julia touches lightly on the subject of their relationship. “We’re not in love,” she begins, to which Fred strenuously objects, but the two soon settle on the notion that they love each other deeply but are no longer in love. Their conversation feels mild enough, but when Julia starts talking about it later with her girlfriend, the topic takes on more depth, and even some real risk.

We don’t actually see Maurice Duclos (Bodie Paden) until late in the game, but he’s all Jane and Julia can talk about once their husbands are gone. It seems they both were swept away by the same charming Frenchman not long before each was married, and now he has written that he is visiting London and wishes to see them both.

Loesch and Lundstrom play beautifully off each other as two proper young married ladies trying to handle a sticky situation with due propriety — except that their curiosity, coupled with the boredom they have been feeling with their settled-in marriages, causes them to consider a rather broad range of options.

At first, the two women skate deftly around the underlying issue of sexual rivalry. Their friendship is mildly threatened at the suggestion of one of them seeing their former lover while the other finds a reason to leave town, but the mood remains pleasant. Their banter feels more like a friendly game of cards than any sort of bitter sparring. Saunders (Fletcher) also breaks in with the occasional wry remark to help keep things from deteriorating into anything unseemly for the young ladies. Just as Jane remarks how awful it would be if a tree fell on the golf course and killed their husbands, for example, Saunders struts in with a silver dessert tray and excitedly proclaims, “Gateau!”

All of the actors have what it takes to bring “Fallen Angels” to life. Coward’s humor feels wise and affectionate in this bright and funny production, directed by Sharon Winegar. Go and recall how a combination of great writing and a talented acting troupe can cast a warm and humorous glow on some of the most sensitive aspects of young adult relationships.

If You Go
“Fallen Angels” continues at the Napa Valley Playhouse, 1637 Imola Ave., Napa through April 6. Tickets are $15 to $22 and are available by calling 707-255-5483 or online at napavalleyplayhouse.org.

Elizabeth Warnimont is a freelance writer specializing in the performing arts. She is also a substitute teacher for the Benicia Unified School District.