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PRESENT LAUGHTER by Noël Coward
Venue: Vaudeville 1981
Directed by Alan Strachan



Cast in order of appearance
Daphne Stillington Belinda Lang
Miss Erikson Sheila Mitchell
Fred Colin Spaull
Monica Reed Gwen Watford
Garry Essendine Donald Sinden
Liz Essendine Dinah Sheridan
Roland Maule Julian Fellowes
Henry Lyppiatt Michael Fleming
Morris Dixon Ian Gardner
Joanna Lyppiatt Elizabeth Counsell
Lady Saltburn Jill Johnson

Review

Present Laughter more than lives up to the second word of its title, even if its values and situations are all of the past. What it confirms, however is that Coward has now earned the right to be placed alongside Congreve, Farquhar, Sheridan and Pinero as a chronicler of his time, even if, like them, he is inclined to dwell on the high society end of the spectrum.

Present Laughter is, of course, about an actor, allegedly based, to a certain extent on Coward himself, but he is still a high society type of figure, most masterfully played on this occasion by Donald Sinden with the air of exaggeration that comes so naturally to him. Gary Essendine may be the very essence of pre-war actorly behaviour, with his tantrums and selfishness, but he is nonetheless real and the combined skills of author and actor make him acceptable as a vulnerable egotist, victim of pressures which a number of unfortunate people would love to have the opportunity of withstanding.

Under Alan Strachan’s direction and blessed with a fine setting by Peter Rice, the rest of the cast play up well to Sinden’s lead – Dinah Sheridan as the wife who lives in a state of loving estrangement, Gwen Watford as the almost pathetically faithful secretary, Polly Adams bent on conquest and hating defeat as Joanna, Belinda Lang as the adoring Daphne and Julian Fellowes getting well beneath the rhinoceros thick skin of Roland Maul.

*   *   *   *   *
"Sparkling transfer from Greenwich" - Time Out