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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre : Reviews |
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Theatre listings > Present Laughter. - Tour. Playwright - Noel Coward. Director - Michael Rudman. Designer - Paul Farnsworth. Lighting Designer - Gerry Jenkinson . Company - Duncan C Weldon and Theatre Royal Bath.Company Website. Cast - here . Venue - Venue - King's Theatre, Edinburgh, 28th March to 1st April, 2006 0131 529 6000. 2006 Tour Dates and Times - here . Seen to review at Edinburgh King's Theatre on 28 March 2006. Run Time - 2 hours 50 minutes with one interval. Reviewer - Vivien Devlin. Laugh ... silly ...at...hysterically funny morality play. Noel Coward's brilliant comedy of manners Present Laughter can clearly be viewed as a piece of autobiography. First performed in 1942 on a nationwide tour, Noël Coward played the leading role of Garry Essendine, a vain, ill tempered, egotistical actor, who is also witty, talented and charming. The plot revolves around his convoluted private life, and the demands of his ex- wife, various adoring girlfriends, an eccentric writer, his secretary, valet, housekeeper, theatre manager and producer. Coward wrote the play for, and about, himself. He was nearing 40, coming to terms with middle-age, sexual promiscuity and the stress and strain of theatrical fame. Originally called Sweet Sorrow, the title comes from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night - " What is love? Tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What's to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty; Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty, Youth's a stuff will not endure". In this new production, the exceptionally witty, talented and charming Simon Callow plays the complex character of Garry, a passionate and proud man, yet emotionally vulnerable. The entire play is set in his fabulous minimalist, art deco London studio flat with spiral staircase, featuring white piano and white leather sofa. While he relies on his staff and close circle of friends for advice and to massage his ego, in return he is mercilessly organized, cajoled, and criticized by the women in his life, who all seem to love him. The lightweight storyline is virtually incidental to the stream of hilarious razor sharp one liners. This is mature, vintage-port, late 1930s Coward, written from the heart, a play about acting and playwriting, oozing with confidence and truth. Within a whirl of romantic dalliances, late night door bells, phone calls and embarrassing encounters, it's a clever and sophisticated bedroom farce. But beneath the comic veneer there's a sense of serious debate about sexual relationships as well as comparing the illusion of acting with real life. As Essendine, Callow shines as a true star, suave and decadent, swanning about in his blue silk dressing gown, conversing and joking with perfect, precise diction. Yet this is no impersonation of the OTT, camp mannerisms of Noel Coward. Callow plays it fairly straight with a fresh approach to the character from his own perspective as an actor. He is well complemented by some excellent performances especially by the women - Jessica Turner as his stylish, cool and composed estranged-wife Liz, and Lysette Anthony as the glamorous, auburn- haired, manipulative man-eater, Joanna. As the young lovesick girl, Daphne, Marianne Oldham is sweet and naively innocent. I had a problem identifying with Morris and Henry, Essendine's theatre manager and producer, whose performances were too similar as two-dimensional, indistinctive characters. Reviewing the London premiere in 1943, The Daily Telegraph commented, " a production gleaming with polish like a lacquer cabinet." Sixty odd years on, this is a slick, fast paced, astutely directed, gleamingly polished, production. The packed audience at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh, laughed themselves silly at this hysterically funny morality play which is as topical today as ever. Who could not appreciate the intellectual wit of this typical Cowardism: " Sex is so overrated. I shall carry on as long as anyone is interested or settle down with an apple and a good book". ©Vivien Devlin, 28 March, 2006 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Cast - Daphne Stillington - Marianne Oldham Miss Erikson - Victoria Lennox Fred - Richard Hollis Monica Reed - Tilly Tremayne Garry Essendine - Simon Callow Liz Essendine - Jessica Turner Roland Maule - Robin Pearce Henry Lyppiatt - Nigel Hastings Morris Dixon - Ricard Attlee Joanna Lyppiatt - Lysette Anthony. Lady Saltburn - Virginia Denham. 2006 Tour Details of Theatre Royal Bath Theatre's production of Present Laughter . Tour begins 27 March- 1 April at Edinburgh King's Theatre 0131 529 6000 3 April - 8 April at Cheltenham Everyman Theatre 01242 572573. 10 - 15 April at Newcastle upon Tyne Theatre Royal 0870 905 5060 calls charged at national rate. . 17 April 2006 To 29 April 2006 Bath Theatre Royal 01225 448844. 1 - 6 May at Cambridge Arts Theatre 01223 503 333. 8 - 27 May Birmingham Repertory Theatre 0121 236 4455. 29 May - 3 June Surrey Richmond Theatre 0870 060 6651(£2 booking fee). Tour ends. Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. |
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