NT Live: Present Laughter

In Noel Coward's 1939 play, flamboyant actor Garry Essendine is surrounded by friends while drowning in an unobserved melancholy amid a midlife crisis.

Accolades are deserved for the real-life actor who plays the production's self-obsessed actor, the two are seamlessly integrated into a single stellar performance. The living room at the centre of the set becomes a carousel of revolving doors, while the farcical pace doesn't let up. Because the work is about hedonism, fame, love, sex, and existential panic, "Present Laughter” hasn't dated. This production remains filled with the playwright's signature wit and wordplay and remains as witheringly funny as it ever was. Beastily pompous and absolutely darling.

Limited Release 8th August 2024
Sharmill Films 165 mins