Present Laughter is Noël Coward at his witty and vituperative best; the play is full of acid rejoinders and memorable one liners and the excellent cast make the most of their comedic value by impeccable timing. The play revolves around a famous actor, Garry Essendine, (Noël Coward wrote this role for himself) and his band of close and clinging friends, not to mention his harem of casual girlfriends. The action takes place in his rather posh flat with a large leather sofa to the fore upon which Gary can recline in one of his many silk dressing gowns and pontificate about the woes in his life. Robert Bathurst is marvellous as the overbearing braggart, Essendine, and any exaggerated overacting is entirely in keeping with the character and the plot.
Belinda Lang, who also directs the play, is splendid as Monica, Essendine’s all-purpose secretary who as well as looking superbly elegant at all times, manages to keep order in his life and fend off unwelcome callers. Her world weary acceptance of arriving at the flat to find a young woman wandering about in Essendine’s dressing gown and pyjamas purporting to have lost her latch key is an indication that this is part of the normal goings on of her employer and yet another job for her to sort out.
Amongst the women in the close circle vying for Essendine’s attention is his ex-wife Liz played by Serena Evans. Serena Evans brings style and a swagger to Liz when fending off of the seductive Joanna (Emma Davis) and the naïve but definitely dangerous Daphne (Dorothea Myer-Bennett) from her ex-husband who can apparently never say no.
Virginia Stride plays both Miss Erickson, the maid and general factotum with a glorious foreign accent and shades of Mrs Overall, and completely at the other end of the social scale, Lady Saltburn, a wealthy dowager press-ganged into introducing her niece to Essendine.
Although the play has a few elements of farce it’s much too sophisticated for any misplacing of trouser episodes and indecorous behaviour is merely hinted at although the consequences are just as funny. Act III in the second half accelerates the pace, and the drama unravels thick and fast. I think Tim Bouverie as Roland Maule, deserves a mention for his extremely amusing interpretation of the very peculiar theatre enthusiast who is obsessed with Essendine and gate crashes his flat to no avail. I’m sure for every person in the public eye there’s someone like this hiding around the corner and in this case it happened to be Mr Essendine!
We really enjoyed the play for its hilarious content and great acting which together with a colourful and interesting set, beautiful 1940s costumes, makes for a very pleasant evening’s entertainment.
Jacquie Vowles