Play written by Noel Coward
James Donald
(Roland) and
Noel Coward
(Garry) in the original production of
Present Laughter
Present Laughter
is a comic play written by
Noel 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
.
Background
[
edit
]
In April and May 1939 Coward wrote two contrasting comedies, both with titles drawn from
Shakespeare
.
[1]
One,
This Happy Breed
, was set in a modest suburban household; the other, originally titled
Sweet Sorrow
, later
Present Laughter
, depicted the affairs of a star actor. The title "Present Laughter" is drawn from the song "O mistress mine" in
Twelfth Night
, Act 2, Scene 3, which urges
carpe diem
("present mirth hath present laughter").
[n 1]
The plot of
Present Laughter
had been forming in Coward's mind over the previous three years, but he recalled in his memoirs that once he began writing it, the play was completed in six days.
[5]
He described it as "a very light comedy ... written with the sensible object of providing me with a bravura part".
[6]
He planned to appear in both the new plays in the autumn of 1939, and they were in rehearsal for a pre-London tour when the
Second World War
began on 2 September; all theatres were closed by government order, and the production was shelved.
[1]
Between the outbreak of war and 1942 Coward worked for the British government, first in its Paris propaganda office and then for the secret service.
[7]
In 1942 the prime minister,
Winston Churchill
, told Coward that he would do more good for the war effort by entertaining the troops and the home front: "Go and sing to them when the guns are firing ? that's your job!"
[8]
Though disappointed, Coward followed this advice. He toured, acted and sang indefatigably in Europe, Africa and Asia.
[9]
Original production
[
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]
Present Laughter
was first staged at the beginning of a 25-week tour of Britain by Coward and his cast. His producer,
Binkie Beaumont
, was opposed to so long a provincial tour, and wanted to open at the
Haymarket Theatre
in London. Coward countered that in wartime conditions, "the provinces can't come to the West End any more, therefore the West End must go to the provinces".
[10]
Present Laughter
was first produced in
Blackpool
on 20 September 1942,
[11]
Coward directed and the sets and costumes were designed by
Gladys Calthrop
.
[12]
The repertory of the tour also consisted of
This Happy Breed
and
Blithe Spirit
; the three were advertised collectively as "Noel Coward in his
Play Parade
".
[13]
After playing in twenty-two towns and cities in England, Scotland and Wales, the tour ended with a six-week run at the Haymarket.
[14]
Original cast
[
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]
Plot
[
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]
All three acts of the play are set in Garry Essendine's London flat.
Act I
[
edit
]
Daphne Stillington, a young admirer of the actor Garry Essendine, has inveigled herself into the flat and has spent the night there. Garry is still asleep, and while waiting for him to wake, Daphne encounters in turn three of his employees: the housekeeper (Miss Erikson), valet (Fred), and secretary (Monica). None of them display any surprise at her presence. Garry finally wakes and with practised smoothness ushers Daphne out.
Liz Essendine, who left Garry years ago, nevertheless remains part of his tightly-knit 'family' along with Monica and his manager, Morris Dixon, and producer, Henry Lyppiatt. Liz tells Garry that she suspects that Morris is having an affair with Henry's glamorous wife Joanna, and is concerned that this might break up the family. Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of Roland Maule, an aspiring young playwright from
Uckfield
, whose play Garry has rashly agreed to critique. Liz leaves, and Roland rapidly becomes obsessively fascinated by Garry, who gets him off the premises as quickly as he can.
Morris and Henry arrive and discuss theatrical business with Garry. Henry leaves for a business trip abroad, and Garry privately interrogates Morris, who denies that he is having an affair with Joanna. Garry telephones Liz to reassure her.
Act II
[
edit
]
- Scene 1, midnight, three days later.
Garry, alone in the flat, answers the doorbell to find Joanna. She claims (like Daphne in Act I) to have forgotten her own door key and asks Garry to accommodate her in his spare room. He correctly suspects her motives, but after much skirmishing allows himself to be seduced.
- Scene 2, the next morning.
Joanna emerges from the spare room wearing Garry's pyjamas just as Daphne did in Act I. She too encounters Miss Erikson, Fred, and then Monica, who is horrified at her presence in such compromising circumstances. Liz arrives and puts pressure on Joanna by threatening to tell Morris that Joanna has spent the night with Garry. Joanna retreats to the spare room when the doorbell rings, but the caller is not Morris but Roland Maule, who says he has an appointment with Garry. Monica leads him to an adjacent room to wait for Garry.
Frantic comings and goings follow, with the flustered arrivals and departures of Morris and Henry, Roland's pursuit of Garry, and the arrival of a Lady Saltburn, to whose niece Garry has promised an audition. The niece turns out to be Daphne Stillington, who recites the same Shelley poem, "We Meet Not as We Parted", with which he bade her farewell in Act I. Joanna flounces out from the spare room, Daphne faints with horror, Roland is entranced, and Garry is apoplectic.
Act III
[
edit
]
A week later, on the eve of Garry's departure on tour in Africa, he is once more alone in the flat. The doorbell rings and Daphne enters saying she has a ticket to sail with him to Africa. The doorbell rings again, and Daphne retreats to an adjoining room. The new caller is Roland, who announces that he too has a ticket for the voyage to Africa. Garry tries to get him to leave, but as the doorbell rings a third time Roland bolts into the spare room and locks the door. The third caller is Joanna, who has also bought a ticket for the Africa voyage and has written a letter to Henry and Morris telling them everything. Liz arrives and saves the tottering situation, announcing that she too is travelling to Africa.
Henry and Morris arrive and berate Garry for his night with Joanna. Garry fights back by revealing the details of Morris and Joanna's affair, and Henry's extramarital adventures. Joanna angrily slaps Garry's face and leaves for good. Her departure goes unnoticed because Garry, Henry and Morris have become embroiled in what for them is a much more serious row when it emerges that Henry and Morris have committed Garry to appear at what he considers a shockingly unsuitable theatre. Garry objects: "I will not play a light French comedy to an auditorium that looks like a
Gothic
edition of
Wembley Stadium
."
[15]
When that row has blown itself out, it is business as usual and Henry and Morris leave in good humour.
Liz pours Garry a brandy and tells him she is not only going to Africa with him but is coming back to him for good. Garry suddenly remembers Daphne and Roland lurking in the adjoining rooms and tells Liz: "You're not coming back to me... I'm coming back to you",
[16]
and they tiptoe out.
Revivals
[
edit
]
The play has been regularly revived. Coward directed and starred in the first West End revival, in 1947. It ran for 528 performances; Carey once again played Liz,
Moira Lister
played Joanna, and
Robert Eddison
played Roland.
[17]
Coward handed on the lead role to
Hugh Sinclair
in July 1947.
[18]
The first West End revival after that was in 1965, with
Nigel Patrick
as Garry.
[n 2]
Notable successors in the role of Garry include
Albert Finney
(1977),
[n 3]
Peter O'Toole
(1978), who also played the role in a production at the
Kennedy Center, Washington
in the same year,
[21]
[22]
Donald Sinden
(1981),
[n 4]
Tom Conti
(1993),
[n 5]
Peter Bowles
(1996),
[24]
Ian McKellen
(1998),
[21]
Rik Mayall
(2003),
[21]
and
Simon Callow
(2006),
[21]
The
National Theatre
revived the play in 2007 and 2008 with
Alex Jennings
as Garry.
[21]
[n 6]
More recent Garrys have included
Samuel West
(
Theatre Royal, Bath
, 2016),
[26]
Rufus Hound
(
Chichester Festival
, 2018),
[27]
and
Andrew Scott
(
Old Vic
, 2019).
[28]
Present Laughter
was first staged in the US in 1946; after an out-of-town tour it opened on 29 October 1946 at the
Plymouth Theatre
on
Broadway
. It featured
Clifton Webb
as Garry and closed in March 1947 after 158 performances.
[29]
In 1958 Coward appeared in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles as Garry with
Eva Gabor
as Joanna.
[30]
American successors in the role of Garry Essendine have included
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
(1975),
[n 7]
George C. Scott
(1982),
[n 8]
Frank Langella
(1996),
[n 9]
,
Victor Garber
(2010),
[n 10]
and
Kevin Kline
(2017).
[n 11]
Adaptations
[
edit
]
Paris
[
edit
]
Coward directed and starred in a French translation,
Joyeux Chagrins
, with the central character renamed Max Aramont. The production toured, beginning in Brussels, before opening at the
Theatre Edouard VII
in Paris in 1948.
[35]
In September 1996 a new French adaptation, titled
Bagatelle
was presented at the
Theatre de Paris
, starring
Michel Sardou
in the lead role, now named Jean Delecour.
[29]
Radio
[
edit
]
In September 1956 the
BBC
broadcast a radio production with
John Gielgud
as Garry,
Nora Swinburne
as Liz and
Mary Wimbush
as Joanna.
[36]
In 1974,
Paul Scofield
played the lead role for the BBC, with
Fenella Fielding
as Joanna,
Patricia Routledge
as Monica,
Miriam Margolyes
as Daphne, and Joy Parker (Scofield's real wife) as Liz.
[37]
In April 2013, a radio adaptation was broadcast on
BBC Radio 4
, starring Samuel West as Garry.
[38]
Television
[
edit
]
As part of the "Play of the Week" series in August 1964 four Coward plays directed and produced by
Joan Kemp-Welch
were transmitted on
ITV
, including
Present Laughter
, with
Peter Wyngarde
as Garry Essendine,
Ursula Howells
as Liz,
Barbara Murray
as Joanna and
James Bolam
as Roland Maule.
[39]
In
1967 ITV broadcast a production
starring Peter O'Toole as Garry, with
Honor Blackman
as Liz.
[29]
The 1981 West End production starring Donald Sinden was filmed for
BBC Television
.
[29]
Autobiographical references
[
edit
]
Coward acknowledged that the central character, the egocentric actor Garry Essendine, was a self-caricature.
[40]
Ben Brantley
called the play "among the most shameless, if liveliest, self-addressed valentines in theater history."
[41]
Coward repeats one of his signature theatrical devices at the end of the play, where the main characters tiptoe out as the curtain falls ? a device that he also used in
Private Lives
,
Hay Fever
and
Blithe Spirit
.
[42]
[43]
In the 1970s the director
Peter Hall
wrote, "what a wonderful play it would be if ? as Coward must have wanted ? all those love affairs were about homosexuals".
[44]
Whether or not Coward would have agreed, in the 1940s the transformation of real-life gay relationships into onstage straight ones was essential.
[45]
The play nevertheless contains many references to Coward's own life. Monica is "unmistakably Lorn Loraine",
[46]
Coward's long-serving and much-loved secretary. Morris has been seen as Coward's agent and sometime lover Jack Wilson, and Henry as Binkie Beaumont.
[47]
Liz, played originally by Joyce Carey, is thought to be based partly on the actress herself, who was a member of Coward's inner circle.
[48]
Critical reception and analysis
[
edit
]
The notices for the first production were excellent.
The Observer
commented, "Mr Coward's production is so inventive, and his own performance so adroit in its mockery of the vain, posturing, and yet self-scrutinising and self-amused matinee idol, that
Present Laughter
is likely to be future mirth for as long as Mr Coward cares to run it."
[49]
The Manchester Guardian
added, "One is tempted to cast discretion to the winds and predict that this will be remembered as the best comedy of its kind and generation ... one of those rare occasions when the critic must claim the privilege of his fellow-playgoers, simply to marvel, admire, and enjoy wholeheartedly."
[50]
When Coward brought the play back to the Haymarket in 1947,
The Times
praised it as "a wittily impudent and neatly invented burlesque of a French farce."
[51]
When it was first seen in the West End without Coward, in 1959,
The Times
commented, "plays as funny as this are no longer being written in England."
[52]
In 1993
Ned Sherrin
wrote, "
Present Laughter
is one of Coward's four great comedies of manners, along with
Hay Fever
,
Private Lives
and
Blithe Spirit
. It presents a masterly, exaggerated picture not only of the playwright but of his whole household, his court, his admirers, his lifestyle and his era."
[53]
Brantley observed in
The New York Times
in 1995, "Yes, Coward was a terrible snob, and there is a certain smugness about
Present Laughter
that it's best not to examine too closely", but, "The sneaking wisdom of
Present Laughter
lies in its suggestion that actorly exaggeration and inner honesty are not mutually exclusive."
[41]
In 1998
John Peter
said that despite its period setting the play was timeless, and commented, "As in all the greatest comedies in the language, those of Shakespeare,
Congreve
and
Wilde
, the wit is both in the situations and the language."
[43]
Reviewing the 2016 revival starring Samuel West,
Lyn Gardner
, in
The Guardian
, found the play "deeply unpleasant ... misogynistic and snobbish".
[26]
Two years later the same paper's chief drama critic,
Michael Billington
, called it an "imperishable comedy".
[27]
Reviewing the 2019 Old Vic production, a critic in
The Hollywood Reporter
noted that "beneath the frantic surface is a subtle depiction of a man trapped by fame and his own image. ... Garry ... eagerly milks melodrama, hammily proclaiming his misfortunes, namely of being in perpetual service to his entourage. And having "acted" for so long offstage, he's reached the point where no one is willing to believe him when trying to be himself."
[54]
Another, in
The Financial Times
, remarked that Garry's "susceptibility to flattery stems from a deep well of loneliness ... neediness ... drives Garry's hunger for affection".
[55]
The reviewer of
The Independent
agreed, noting that the leading character's surname, Essendine, is an anagram of "neediness", and commented, "Coward's comedy asks us to wonder: who needs whom most ? the sun or the planets that orbit it?"
[56]
Notes, references and sources
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
The word
present
in the title is pronounced as the adjective
, and not the verb
.
[2]
"This happy breed", referring to the English nation, is a quotation from
Richard II
, Act 2, Scene 1;
[3]
"sweet sorrow" is from
Romeo and Juliet
, Act 2, Scene 2.
[4]
- ^
Avice Landon
played Monica,
Phyllis Calvert
, Liz,
Maxine Audley
, Joanna, and
Richard Briers
, Roland Maule.
[19]
- ^
Finney's cast included
Eleanor Bron
as Liz, and
Diana Quick
as Joanna.
[20]
[21]
- ^
The production also featured
Dinah Sheridan
as Liz,
Gwen Watford
as Monica and
Julian Fellowes
as Roland Maule.
[23]
- ^
In this production
Gabrielle Drake
played Monica and
Jenny Seagrove
, Joanna.
[24]
- ^
Monica was played by
Sarah Woodward
,
Lisa Dillon
played Joanna.
[25]
- ^
Fairbanks played Garry in a production at the
Kennedy Center, Washington
, in March 1975.
Jane Alexander
played Liz and
Ilka Chase
played Monica.
[31]
- ^
Scott directed and starred in a revival at
Circle in the Square Theatre
, with
Elizabeth Hubbard
as Liz,
Dana Ivey
as Monica and
Nathan Lane
as Roland Maule.
[31]
It ran for 175 performances.
[32]
- ^
Langella starred in a production at the
Walter Kerr Theatre
from 18 November 1996, with
Allison Janney
as Liz.
[32]
- ^
This production was at the
American Airlines Theatre
, with
Lisa Banes
as Liz, and
Harriet Harris
as Monica.
[33]
- ^
Produced at the
St. James Theatre
, with
Kate Burton
as Liz,
Reg Rogers
as Morris,
Cobie Smulders
as Joanna, and
Kristine Nielsen
as Monica. It ran for 101 performances.
[34]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Coward (1954), p. 3; and Mander and Mitchenson, p. 353
- ^
Shakespeare, p. 708
- ^
Shakespeare, p. 360
- ^
Shakespeare, p. 327
- ^
Coward (1954), p. 170
- ^
Coward (1979), unnumbered introductory page
- ^
Hoare, Philip.
"Coward, Sir Noel Peirce (1899?1973), playwright and composer"
,
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
, Oxford University Press, 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2019
(subscription or
UK public library membership
required)
- ^
Morley (1974), p. 246
- ^
Morley (2005), pp. 76?77
- ^
Farley, p. 14
- ^
Mander and Mitchenson, p. 345
- ^
Mander and Mitchenson, p. 347
- ^
"Opera House",
The Manchester Guardian
, 15 October 1942, p 1
- ^
Mander and Mitchenson, pp. 345?346
- ^
Coward (1979), p. 245
- ^
Coward (1979), p. 246
- ^
"Haymarket Theatre",
The Times
, 17 April 1947, p. 6
- ^
Mander and Mitchenson, p. 346
- ^
"A Charmed Circle Keeps its Comic Magic",
The Times
, 22 April 1965, p. 16
- ^
Billington, Michael. "Coward without camp",
The Guardian
, 2 April 1977, p. 8
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Fisher, Philip.
"Present Laughter"
, British Theatre Guide, 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2019
- ^
Coe, Richard L.
"Merry 'Laughter'"
,
The Washington Post
, 16 November 1978
- ^
"Donald Sinden in Coward play",
The Times
, 21 January 1981, p. 11
- ^
a
b
Nightingale, Benedict. "Hungry for ham and ego",
The Times
, 28 February 1996, p. 39
- ^
Billington, Michael.
"Present Laughter"
,
The Guardian
, 3 October 2007
- ^
a
b
Gardner, Lyn.
"Present Laughter review"
,
The Guardian
, 30 June 2016
- ^
a
b
Billington, Michael.
"Present Laughter review"
,
The Guardian
, 27 April 2018
- ^
Noah, Sherna.
"Andrew Scott wins Olivier Award for
Pleasant Laughter
stage role"
[
sic
],
Irish Examiner
, 26 October 2020; and
"Andrew Scott wins British theatre award"
, RTE, 24 November 2019
- ^
a
b
c
d
Mander and Mitchenson, p. 354
- ^
Lesley, pp. 177?78
- ^
a
b
Mander and Mitchenson, p. 356
- ^
a
b
Mander and Mitchenson, pp. 356?357
- ^
"Present Laughter Cast Information"
, BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 25 January 2010
- ^
"Present Laughter"
, Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 11 May 2019
- ^
Mander and Mitchenson, p. 353; and Hoare, p. 379
- ^
"John Gielgud in
Present Laughter
"
, BBC Genome. Retrieved 11 May 2019
- ^
"The Monday Play:
Present Laughter
"
, BBC Genome. Retrieved 11 May 2019
- ^
"Radio Listings",
The Times
, 6 April 2013, p. 27
- ^
"Joan Kemp-Welch"
,
British Film Institute
. Retrieved 3 August 2018
- ^
Lahr, p. 34
- ^
a
b
Brantley, Ben.
"
Present Laughter
; Sinfully Charming, Noel Coward's 'Me' Requires Charisma"
,
The New York Times
, 9 August 1995, p. 9
- ^
Lahr, pp. 36, 84 and 91
- ^
a
b
Peter, John. "All present and correct",
The Sunday Times
, 27 December 1998, p. 9 (Arts and books section)
- ^
Hall, 19 April 1976
- ^
Lahr, p. 158
- ^
Hoare, p. 293
- ^
Hoare, pp. 293?94
- ^
Hoare, p. 294
- ^
Brown, Ivor
, "Theatre and Life",
The Observer
, 2 May 1943, p. 2
- ^
"Opera House:
Present Laughter
",
The Manchester Guardian
, 21 October 1942, p. 6
- ^
"Haymarket",
The Times
, 23 June 1947, p. 6
- ^
"Theatre",
The Times
, 22 April 1965, p. 16
- ^
Sherrin, Ned. "Noel's house party ?
Present Laughter
",
The Sunday Times
, 27 June 1993, p. 8 (Features section)
- ^
Matheou, Demetrios.
"
Present Laughter
: Theater Review"
,
The Hollywood Reporter
, 26 June 2019
- ^
Hemming, Sarah.
"Andrew Scott, brilliance and dark mischief in
Present Laughter
at the Old Vic"
,
Financial Times
, 26 June 2019
- ^
Taylor, Paul.
"
Present Laughter
review, The Old Vic: Andrew Scott shines in glorious, revelatory production"
,
The Independent
, 26 June 2019
Sources
[
edit
]
- Coward, Noel (1954).
Future Indefinite
. London: Heinemann.
OCLC
5002107
.
- Coward, Noel (1979).
Plays: Four
. London: Methuen.
ISBN
978-0-413-46120-9
.
- Day, Barry (2007).
The Letters of Noel Coward
. London: Methuen.
ISBN
978-0-7136-8578-7
.
- Farley, Alan (2013). "Interview with
Judy Campbell
".
Speaking of Noel Coward
. Bloomington: Author House.
ISBN
978-1-4817-7324-9
.
- Hall, Peter
(1983).
Diaries 1972?1980
. London: Hamish Hamilton.
ISBN
978-0-241-11285-4
.
- Hoare, Philip
(1995).
Noel Coward, A Biography
. London: Sinclair-Stevenson.
ISBN
978-1-85619-265-1
.
- Lahr, John
(1982).
Coward the Playwright
. London: Methuen.
ISBN
978-0-413-48050-7
.
- Lesley, Cole (1976).
The Life of Noel Coward
. London: cape.
ISBN
978-0-224-01288-1
.
- Mander, Raymond; Mitchenson, Joe; Day, Barry Day; Morley, Sheridan (2000) [1957].
Theatrical Companion to Coward
(second ed.). London: Oberon.
ISBN
978-1-84002-054-0
.
- Morley, Sheridan
(1974).
A Talent to Amuse
. London: Penguin.
ISBN
978-0-14-003863-7
.
- Morley, Sheridan (2005).
Noel Coward
. London: Haus.
ISBN
978-1-904341-88-8
.
- Shakespeare, William (1936).
William Aldis Wright
(ed.).
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: The Cambridge Edition
. New York: Garden City.
OCLC
5156462
.
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