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Present Laughter

1999
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About Present Laughter

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Present Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night that urges carpe diem ("present mirth hath present laughter"). The play has been frequently revived in Britain, the US and beyond.

The plot depicts a few days in the life of the successful and self-obsessed light comedy actor Garry Essendine as he prepares to travel for a touring commitment in Africa. Amid a series of events bordering on farce, Garry has to deal with women who want to seduce him, placate both his long-suffering secretary and his wife, cope with a crazed young playwright, and overcome his impending mid-life crisis (he has recently turned forty). The character is a caricature of the author's real-life persona, as Coward acknowledged.

Coward starred as Garry during the original run, which began with a long provincial tour to accommodate wartime audiences. He reprised the role in the first British revival and later in the United States and Paris. Subsequent productions have featured Albert Finney, Peter O'Toole, Donald Sinden, Ian McKellen, Simon Callow and Andrew Scott, and in the United States Clifton Webb, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., George C. Scott, Frank Langella and Kevin Kline.

April 9 - 17, 1999

  • The Courthouse Theatre

  • Genre: Comedy

  • Playwright: Noël Coward

  • Director: Ron Hedgcock

Cast

Sharnarra Crawley

Daphne Stillington

Margaret Solomon

Miss Erikson

Barrie McCausland

Fred

Barbara Snibson

Monica Reed

Peter Nethercote

Garry Essendine

Jill Dunne

Liz Essendine

Adam Roche

Roland Maule

Geoff Nott

Henry Lyppiatt

Edward Daly

Morris Dixon

Kathy Bedford

Joanna Lyppiatt

Janet Low

Lady Saltburn

Crew

  • Stage Manager

    Jessica Stanley

  • Set Design

    Julian Oldfield

  • Lighting

    Frank and Leon Hanrahan

  • Wardrobe

    Jenny Hill and Bronwyn Oldaker

  • Poster Design

    Peter Freund

  • Set Construction

    Frank Lilley ably assisted by Wendy, Gary and Andrew Hall, Geoff Nott, Edward and Patrick Daly, Ron Hedgcock, Peter Nethercote, Yvonne and Ivan Downing, Anne Savage, Jill Dunne, Peter Zala, Margaret Solomon, Barbara Olsen, Rory Campbell, Val Sarah, Von Watson, Michael Zala, Barry Breen and Julian Oldfield

  • Front of House

    Yvonne Downing and BNT Members

  • Photography

    Helen Irving

Gallery