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| Lionidas Katsanis (Fred) - Jarrad West (Garry Essendine) - Tracy Noble (Monica) in "Present Laughter: |
Written by Noel Coward – Directed by Karen Vickery.
Set Design: Karen Vickery & Michael Sparks – Set
realisation: Michael Sparks
Stage Management & Lighting: Disa Swifte – Set
construction: Matthew Ovenell
Lighting Assistant: Rhiley Winnett – Props: Brent Warren
Costume Design: Fiona Leach & Jennie Norberry - Sound:
Patrick Dixon & Neville Pye
ACT HUB: 4 – 14TH
June 2025 – Opening Night performance reviewed by BILL STEPHENS
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| Karina Hudson (Joanna) - Crystal Mahon (Liz) in "Present Laughter" |
When questioned about his reason for writing Present Laughter
Noel Coward is reputed to have replied “with the sensible object of
providing me with a bravura part”.
That role served Coward well. He went on to play it many times,
and once he vacated it, talented leading men around the globe vied for the
opportunity to put their interpretation on it.
Written in just six days in 1939, Present Laughter follows a few chaotic days in the life of
self-obsessed actor, Garry Essendine, who is experiencing a mid-life crisis just
as he is about to set out on a tour of Africa in the original play, but Australia,
for ACT Hub’s hugely entertaining version.
In its version, directed by Karen Vickery, ACT Hub has spiced
up Coward’s play with some changes to the text, the gender of a couple of the
characters, and set loose an excellent cast of experienced actors, led by
Jarrad West as Garry Essendine, to mine Coward’s script for plentiful laughs,
as they create a chaotic world that revolves around Essendine.
Taking Coward at his word Jarrad West delivers a masterful bravura
comic performance as Garry Essendine, never missing a beat as he connives and
blusters his way through increasingly silly situations.
He receives excellent support from Crystal Mahon who impresses
as Essendine’s warm and knowing wife, Liz, who together with his long-suffering
secretary Monica, delightfully portrayed by Tracy Noble, has the unenviable
task of keeping Essendine’s entourage of admirers and lovers at bay.
Aiding and abetting them, Jenna Roberts is hilariously
subversive as his scandinavian housekeeper Miss Erikson, while Leonidas Katsanis’s charming
if rather creepy butler, Fred hints of more behind his relationship with
Essendine than merely employer/employee.
Joe Dinn is terrific as Essendine’s friend, Morris, who’s sudden
infatuation with the glamorous vamp Joanna, (Karina Hudson) sets the cat among
the pigeons; particularly as Joanna was previously in a relationship with
Henrietta (Amy Kowalczuk) and goes on to successfully seduce Essendine.
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| Karina Hudson as Joanna in "Present Laughter". |
Societal norms have moved on since this play was written in 1939. With the agreement of the rights holders, director Vickery has made cuts and changes to the original script to update the play and reduce the running time.
In Coward’s version, Henrietta was originally Henry, and
while the gender change certainly adds additional piquancy, but besides providing
Amy Kowalczuk with another opportunity to display her much admired versatility,
it also distracts by raising confusion about apparently ambivalent sexual
relationships between other of the characters.
Similarly, it is difficult to fathom the gains achieved by
changing the gender of Coward’s character Daphne to David, other than saddling talented
young actor, Callum Doherty with the impossible task of creating a believable character, or by having Michael Cooper play the
already puzzling Roland Maule at such a distractingly hyper-energetic level. Farce
works best when the characters are believable.
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| Amy Kowalczuk (Henrietta) - Michael Cooper (Roland Maule) in "Present Laughter" |
Coward’s plays are exercises in style, both in presentation and acting. This production offers much to relish in both regards. The forties-era costumes by Fiona Leach and Jennie Norberry are quite beautiful, as is the art deco set design by Karen Vickery and Michael Spark.
Brent Warren’s stylish properties add an appropriate sense
of luxury to the proceedings, and Disa Swifte’s lighting design and the witty
music choices by Patrick Dixon and Neville Pye, especially for the cheeky scene
changes, successfully compliment the action.
Given the impressive diligence lavished on this production
elsewhere, it was impossible not to notice details overlooked, such as
unpressed costumes and missed masking on the staircase, which then became
distractions.
Hopefully these will be rectified by the time you see this delightful
production.
Images by Jane Duong
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW.www.artsreview.com.au
