Perhaps when Noël Corward wrote Present Laughter in 1939 he truly was struggling with the idea of being 40. (That was, in fact, the year he did turn 40.) It is at that age that his lead character, light comedy actor Garry Essendine, faces a myriad of circumstances that only Coward could have written. The Old Vic production, directed by Matthew Warchus, was filmed and will be screened at the James Bridges Theatre at UCLA on Saturday, February 22nd.
The weight of this play falls on the shoulders of the actor playing Essendine. For this production those shoulders belong to Andrew Scott, perhaps best known as the “hot priest” from Fleabag.
This is the kind of part that is bait for any actor. Coward played the part originally. Others to tackle it have included Albert Finney, Peter O’Toole, Frank Langella, Victor Garber, Ian McKellan and Kevin Kline.
Michael Billington, in London’s The Guardian, said of Scott’s performance, “Andrew Scott gives a virtuosic performance in Noël Coward’s imperishable 1943 comedy. He lends the hero, Garry Essendine, a mixture of twinkling charm and driving egomania characteristic of the kind of actor-manager Coward was portraying and possibly of the author himself. It is a richly funny performance…”
Putting together a brief synopsis for so madcap a play as Present Laughter would be a fool’s enterprise. With a play like this, the less you know the better. Why spoil either the jokes or the circumstances that allow them to live so deliciously?
For tickets go here.
Note: For those who like to plan ahead, there will also be a screening of Present Laughter at the Boston Court Theatre in Pasadena on May 27th.
Photo: Andrew Scott in Present Laughter (Photo by Manuel Harlan/Courtesy of National Theatre Live)
