{"id":25590,"date":"2024-06-28T11:41:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T18:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=25590"},"modified":"2024-06-28T11:41:59","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T18:41:59","slug":"present-laughter-a-delightfully-dramatic-farce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2024\/06\/28\/present-laughter-a-delightfully-dramatic-farce\/","title":{"rendered":"Present Laughter<\/em> a delightfully dramatic farce"},"content":{"rendered":"

Present Laughter<\/em> is a stage play written by No\u00ebl Coward in 1939, following the life and antics of actor Garry Essendine and his closest friends and enemies. Produced by the Langham Court Theatre under director Don Keith, the original script is presented completely faithfully, and the strength of the writing is evident in the immense relatability of the main characters\u2019 foibles and follies, even 85 years later.<\/p>\n

The story follows a group of far-too-familiar colleagues in stuffy upper-class Britain, and poignantly demonstrates tongue-in-cheek ridicule of the uncanny ability for those in positions of high society to remain polite and pleasant while simultaneously oozing with loathing. This duplicitous nature is smeared on thicker and thicker until it reaches a breaking point, with characters unable to remain calm or tactful in any manner.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Present Laughter<\/em> is a complete success, according to Nexus<\/em> writer Lane Chevrier (photo by Gord More).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cast of characters includes Garry, his ex-wife, his somewhat-accidental mistress (whom he loathes), his two bumbling friends, his maid, butler, and secretary, and a couple of overly adoring fans whose obsessions are of the same subject but take on entirely different manifestations. This motley ensemble is completely fed up with one another, and the ensuing tension is presented through well-delivered comedic beats.<\/p>\n

Unlike some plays that seem to neglect dynamic stage movement, instead having their characters largely motionless or moving in strangely robotic blocking patterns, the characters in Present Laughter<\/em> vibrate with anxious or frenetic energy that floods out through their body language and facial expressions, oftentimes completely at odds with the dialogue\u2014that unconscious cognitive dissonance feels totally authentic and contributes to the dramatic crescendo.<\/p>\n

I also certainly cannot fail to commend the set design and dressing. As the curtains drew, we were shown a lavish and opulent mansion, a wooden spiral staircase, a grand piano, exquisitely upholstered furniture, and arching stained-glass windows. The set of Present Laughter<\/em> is the only one I\u2019ve seen receive a jubilant ovation from the crowd, at first sight, even before any characters walked onstage, and this is all thanks to a talented team of artisans bringing the vision on the page to life. (Interestingly, the set was designed by Toshik Bukowiecki, a Langham Court veteran for over 50 years, who also plays the role of Garry Essendine.)<\/p>\n

While there were no stand-out roles, this is merely because every actor, without fail, gave an exceptionally energetic and passionate performance. There\u2019s also something very endearing about community theatre that brings the audience so much closer to the actors, both literally and figuratively. Last year I attended a professional opera with a cast of dozens and an audience 1,400 strong, and while that highly polished production was breathtaking, there was a sense of disconnection between the everyday spectators and the actors onstage.<\/p>\n

Community theatre eliminates this disconnection with small venues and up-close performances that are unpolished in the best of ways. During Present Laughter<\/em>, nearly every actor stumbled over their lines at least once or twice, although never more than a barely noticeable fumble that they quickly recovered from. While this is more likely on opening night than several weeks in, I think it endears the audience to the performers. These actors are ordinary people with ordinary day jobs putting in an incredible amount of time, effort, and passion into doing what they love, and, although it\u2019s not perfect, I find that the occasional stumble makes the characters themselves more believable and relatable, and the performance further shines because of it.<\/p>\n

Present Laughter<\/em>
\nVarious times, until Sunday, July 14
\n$19-$26, Langham Court Theatre
\nlanghamtheatre.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Present Laughter is a stage play written by No\u00ebl Coward in 1939, following the life and antics of actor Garry Essendine and his closest friends and enemies. Produced by the Langham Court Theatre under director Don Keith, the original script is presented completely faithfully, and the strength of the writing is evident in the immense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25592,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25590\/revisions\/25592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}