National Theatre Live: Present Laughter

Yesterday I went to a National Theatre Live screening of Present Laughter and I absolutely loved this hilarious comedy by Noel Coward.  It was filmed in 2019 during its run at the Old Vic and was presented by the Tanner Humanities Center and Salt Lake Film Society at the Broadway.  Garry Essendine (Andrew Scott) is a petulant and self-absorbed actor known for starring in light comedies on the stage.  He has a tight-knit group of minders, including his housekeeper Miss Erikson (Liza Sadovy), his valet Fred (Joshua Hill), his secretary Monica Reed (Sophie Thompson), his estranged wife Liz Essendine (Indira Varma), his manager Morris Dixon (Abdul Sallis), and his producer Helen Lyppiatt (Suzie Toase), who all attempt to curb the self-indulgent behavior that his fame enables.  Chaos ensues when he becomes entangled with two of his admirers, Daphne Stillington (Kitty Archer) and Roland Maule (Luke Thallon), and when he begins an affair with Joe Lyppiatt (Enzo Cilenti), the husband of his producer.  When everyone turns on him, he reminds them that he is the sun around which they all revolve and that they enjoy both the reflected fame they get from him and all of the percentages they get from his income (the way Scott says "percentages" is one my favorite line readings).  While it is laugh out loud funny, this version leans heavily into Essendine's neediness and almost everything he does is a bid for attention.  I loved Scott's brilliant performance (he won the Olivier Award for it) because he is hilariously overwrought and melodramatic with a physicality that is fun to watch (at one point he keeps spinning around because he has people ensconced in every room and doesn't know what to do).  He has charisma to spare but he also has a vulnerability that is often displayed with just a fleeting look and I found the ending to be quite poignant (it is different from other versions I've seen).  The rest of the cast is also really good and I especially enjoyed watching Varma and Thompson interact with Scott because they treat him like a lost little boy (they both deliver some great one-liners) and I also loved Thallon's frenetic energy.  The staging of this show is very clever because, even though the set for Essendine's London flat is static, it features a large main area with multiple doors (through which characters come and go endlessly) that circle around it and this mimics the relationship he has with everyone in his life.  I am a huge fan of Andrew Scott and I enjoyed every minute of this production!

Note:  The next National Theatre Live screening at the Broadway is Nye on January 11.