The Hawken Players' Society Presents "Present Laughter"

Present Laughter, a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939, features a cast of eleven, lavish period costumes and a West End penthouse set to die for. A fun-filled romp about growing old gracefully, the production features, in order of appearance:

 

Arianna Marino '15 (Daphne), Maeve Kolk '15 (Miss Erikson), Michael Abramovich '18 (Fred), Cassandra Knaggs '17 (Monica), Matthew Thompson '15 (Garry), Alex Ashley '15 (Liz), Joey Tate '17 (Roland Maule), Mitchell Maly '16 (Henry Lyppiatt), Nick Buchanan '17 (Morris Dixon), Sarah Parker '16 (Joanna Lyppiatt) and Catherine McLennan '18 (Lady Saltburn).

 

Taking its title from a song in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which urges carpe diem - "present mirth hath present laughter," "Present Laughter" follows 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. Garry has to deal with women who want to seduce him, placate his long-suffering secretary and his estranged wife, cope with a crazed young playwright, and overcome his impending mid-life crisis, as he has recently turned forty.

 

The story was described by Coward as "a series of semi-autobiographical pyrotechnics." Coward wrote: "Present Laughter is a very light comedy and was written with the sensible object of providing me with a bravura part." The central role of Garry Essendine (Matt Thompson ’15) is the sun around whom the play’s various characters circle in wobbly and ever shrinking orbit. Garry is a West End stage star for whom the footlights truly never dim.