PRESENT LAUGHTER
By Noel Coward

June 11-14 & June 18-20

Written by Noel Coward in 1939, the play's title comes from a song in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which urges carpe diem (" present mirth hath present laughter"). The plot follows a few days in the life of the successful and self-obsessed 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 estranged wife, cope with a crazed young playwright, and overcome his fear of his own approaching fortieth birthday and, by implication, his impending mid-life crisis. Add to this Coward's incredible use of language and wit, and you have a recipe for hilarity.

CAST:

Daphne Stillington      Mahssa Rushidy
Miss Erikson                         Janet Rich
Fred                                     Tod Barker
Monica Reed                     Pam Rickard
Garry Essendine           Adam Weakley
Liz Essendine               Wendy Ascione
Roland Maule                Andrew Benson
Morris Dixon                     Dennis Platte
Hugo Lyppiatt                          Joe York
Joanna Lyppiatt               Maria Thomas
Lady Saltburn                          Alice Fell