Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, May 3, 2012 . . . The classic comedy of Noël Coward returns to the Shaw Festival. Brimming with the renowned Coward wit and style, Present Laughter previews today at the Festival Theatre.
Long-time Shaw Ensemble member and consummate Coward authority David Schurmann directs this Coward farce. Set in what now seems an innocent past, it depicts a time when being a famous actor could still be negotiated with suave sophistication and style, and where even those stalking the stars were well-bred, well-spoken and well-dressed. Steven Sutcliffe is Gary Essendine, the man at the head of an affectionate and intimate accidental family; that includes his estranged, but still caring wife, Liz Essendine (Claire Jullien); his long suffering assistant Monica Reed (Mary Haney), producer and friend Hugo Lyppiatt (Patrick McManus) and manager and friend Morris Dixon (Gray Powell). The Shaw’s production of Present Laughter also features Moya O’Connell as glamorous interloper Joanna Lyppiatt, Julia Course as the besotted young Daphne Stillington and Jonathan Tan as the aspiring playwright Roland Maule, with Corrine Koslo, James Pendarves and Jennifer Phipps.
Garry Essendine is a successful matinee idol who sits in comfortable style at the centre of his own universe. While in the midst of planning his upcoming trip to Africa, Garry must not only contend with visits from a love-struck ingénue, an adulterous producer, a married seductress, his estranged wife, and a crazed young playwright, but, to his horror, the onset of middle age!
Present Laughter is designed by William Schmuck, with lighting design by Kevin Lamotte. The stage management team includes Production Stage Manager Alison Peddie and Assistant Stage Manager Annie McWhinnie.
No stranger to the stages of the Shaw Festival, Noël Coward’s Present Laughter was last seen at The Shaw in 1990 and featured Christopher Newton as Garry Essendine and Steven Sutcliffe as Roland Maule. In 2009, the Shaw Festival made repertory theatrical history when it presented all ten of Noël Coward’s Tonight at 8:30 series of plays in one season.
Present Laughter begins preview performances Thursday, May 3, opens Wednesday, May 23 and plays in repertory until Sunday, October 28. Present Laughter is generously sponsored by CIBC.
The Shaw Festival’s 2012 season began April 10, 2012, runs until October 28, 2012 and proudly features 11 productions presented on the Festival’s four Niagara-on-the-Lake stages. For more information on our 2012 season, performance schedule and ticket information, please visit www.shawfest.com.
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Illustration: Present Laughter. ©2012 Shaw Festival.
2012-05-03
Niagara-on-the-Lake: Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter” begins previews today