‘PRESENT LAUGHTER’: Kevin Kline & Kate Burton. Photo: Joan Marcus

PRESENT LAUGHTER
Written by Noël Coward
Directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel
Through July 2, 2017
St. James Theatre
246 West 44th Street
(877-250-2929), LaughteronBroadway.com/

By David NouNou

No one does drawing-room comedy better than Noel Coward. Having seen Present Laughter now for the fourth time, I can honestly say that this production, although unevenly cast, is the definitive version and a must-see. Having seen George C. Scott, Frank Langella, Victor Garber, all brilliant actors playing the central role of Garry Essendine, I must give top honors to Kevin Kline. Being semi-biographical, Mr. Kline taps into the heart and soul of Noel Coward. He is vain, narcissistic, self-indulgent, prone to tantrums, sexually busy, and needing constant reassurance (no, I’m not talking about an elected official. I’m talking about Mr. Coward). Mr. Kline imbues him with an additional trait, expert athleticism.

Written in 1943, it is a comedy of both good and bad manners. Of course it was different times and as Mr. Coward has written in so many of his plays: (Private Lives, Hay Fever, Design For Living), being a snob and spoiled is not necessarily a bad thing. Case in point:Garry Essendine has a loving ex-wife, Liz (Kate Burton), who pampers and spoils him and still knows when to come and rescue him; a doting secretary, Monica Reed (Kristen Nielson), who attends to his daily needs; close confidants, producer Henry Lyppiatt (Peter Francers James) and director, Morris Dixon (Reg Rogers); and a swarm of admirers who lose their latch keys in order to be close to him, especially the devious Joanna Lyppiatt (Cobie Smulders), married to Henry and the innocent, hapless, and foolish Daphne Stillington (Tedra Millan). Also let’s not forget he has two devoted staff members; a butler, Fred (Matt Bittner), and a Swedish housekeeper, Miss Erikson (Ellen Harvey) who is more Teutonic than Scandinavian. In this mix is also a confused and crazed failed playwright, Roland Maule (Bhavesh Patel), who is obsessed with Garry and we really don’t know why. You could say Garry has a charmed life; he is the sun and all the planets revolve around him.

Moritz von Stuelpnagel, who directed the brilliant Hand to God, has a talent for the absurd and throws just the right touch of mischief to the proceedings. In the center of it all is Kevin Kline, who always adds a touch of class to all his performances. Here his deftness in narcissism touches on his previous roles in the musicals On the 20th Century and The Pirates of Penzance, one of the many reasons we fell in love with him in the first place. He makes vanity and conceit an art rather than a deadly sin.

Kate Burton as Liz is charming, vivacious and smart; she knows she has a handful with Garry. Kristine Nielson is such a lovable actress and has given so many wonderful performances that it is difficult to say that she is miscast as an Englishwoman. Reg Rogers, who usually plays an Englishman, is also one of the miscast victims. He is more hysterical than floundering as the cuckolded director who is in love with the vampish Joanna. Cobie Smulders, making her Broadway debut, makes a striking Joanna. Tedra Millan is adorable as the annoying, foolish young groupie, Daphne.

There are two English comedies currently running on Broadway; one of them is sheer mayhem; the other is a classy, lively revival by Noel Coward and starring Kevin Kline. Cheerio.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 9, 2017
Reviewed at press performance on April 8, 2017

‘PRESENT LAUGHTER’: (left to right) Kristine Nielsen, Kate Burton & Kevin Kline. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘PRESENT LAUGHTER’: Kevin Kline. Photo: Joan Marcus

The post ‘Present Laughter’: Comedy of good & bad manners appeared first on StageZine.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE: British stage & TV star Felicity Kendal plays an aging West End actress spending a weekend in the country in Noël Coward’s ‘Hay Fever’. Photo: Nobby Clark

HAY FEVER
Written by Noël Coward
Directed by Lindsay Posner
Through August 1, 2015
Duke of York’s Theatre
St. Martin’s Lane
London, United Kingdom
(0844 871 7623), www.atgtickets.com

By Scott Harrah

Noël Coward was one of the most celebrated British playwrights of the 20th century. From Private Lives to Blithe Spirit to Design for Living, Mr. Coward wrote the epitome of upper-crust, class-conscious comedies that were the antithesis of the working-class “kitchen sink dramas” by John Osbourne and the like that were popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Most of the humor still holds up in the majority of Mr. Coward’s plays, and one wishes the same could be said for Hay Fever, written in 1925.

This West End transfer of Hay Fever, which was mounted at Theatre Royal Bath in 2014 and also toured Australia, arrived in the West End earlier this spring. Ms. Kendal is no stranger to British audiences, first making a name for herself in the 1970s TV sitcom “The Good Life” and then making quite an impressive U.K. stage career in the West End productions The Real Thing, Heartbreak House, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, among others. As an American who has always been a fan of Mr. Coward’s plays, I was excited to see one of his classics in London, the city where they first made a cultural impact.

There is no question Ms. Kendal is a true professional with a commanding stage presence. She has razor-sharp coming timing, from the way she elegantly delivers Mr. Coward’s numerous bon mots to the expressive emotions on her face with its patrician-like features. Whenever Ms. Kendal is on stage, her presence is overpowering, and she almost overshadows the rest of the cast.

Ms. Kendal plays Judith, a recently retired West End actress who is having difficulty adjusting to the bucolic life in rural England. Still, Judith yearns to return to the London stage. Her novelist husband, David (Simon Shepherd), and children Sorel (Alice Orr-Ewing), and Simon (Edward Franklin), have very little stage chemistry with Ms. Kendal.

The paper-thin plot revolves around the Bliss family bringing uninvited guests to the country estate for the weekend. As one can imagine, predictable mayhem ensues as love interests and hormones swirl around all over the place.

Despite some gorgeous sets by designer Peter McIntosh and associate set designer Simon Anthony Wells, and delightful period costumes, the plot is so calculated and—dare I say it?—trite, that there are few surprises. Unlike Mr. Coward’s better plays, there are few surprises or shocks here. The dialogue also lacks the wit of Mr. Coward’s later efforts. Perhaps director Lindsay Posner could have done some script tweaks to make this 90-year-old comedy a bit more modern.

Noël Coward is one of the all-time greats of the British theatre, but Hay Fever (written when Mr. Coward was in his 20s) is devoid of the timeless genius of Private Lives and Design for Living and his other plays.

FAMILY TIES: (left to right) Alice Orr-Ewing, Felicity Kendal & Edward Franklin. Photo: Nobby Clark

‘Hay Fever’: (left to right) Celeste Dodwell & Michael Simkins. Photo: Nobby Clark

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published July 6, 2015
Reviewed at June 18, 2015 performance in London

The post Noël Coward’s ‘Hay Fever’ a classic but dated appeared first on StageZine.