Present Laughter

New Theatre Sydney, 11 November – 13 December 2025

The review - a reflection at the end of the year

Another treat at the end of this year.

That timeless trap - a woman tries to save a man from himself. A night bug dying, flying to a bright flame. Classics. 

Here it is, a semi-autobiographical story, all built on that, written in the early 40th in America.

Written by a man, a famous actor at the time, a man of immense charisma, attracting women and men who want him, his attention, his help, his recommendations. A vaudeville full of hiding, seducing, breaking up, and making it all up again. Smart, dull, grown-up, young, experienced, and new, women are around a handsome, self-centered, but inside - dead-scaried of aging actor (Peter Eyers), whose speeches are stitched from dramatic verses he declamates on a stage. So at some point, nobody believes him when he talks from the heart.

Women stuck with him. Fun fact - he stuck with women. His long-time all-noticing, never openly surprised secretary Emily Weare and his pragmatic, ironic, practical (ex) wife (Molly Haddon) are his anchors, though he would never accept it. A young clingy ingenue (Larissa Turton) and a slightly special, swinging between the happiest to a self-panishing mode admirer, Roland (Luke Visentin made him a hilarious, but better-to-stay-away stranger), are a pair to be quite creepy. Acting boldly, nearly grotesque, both are stuck to their idol like wet leaves to skin.

My highlight was Joanna by Lib Campbell, one of the best eccentric actresses on the Sydney stage, a young woman who was trapped in the charms. But she made it so hard-headedly, seducing with such prudency, that she deserves a woman-to-woman high-five. Only her gesture, as she arranges her stunning dress on a sofa, and then with the same move unfolding pajamas, the same pajamas that the other women were wearing, is a little trait to draw up the entire personality.

Set up in a tasteful, elegant, rich living room with stairs to a large curtain to a bedroom behind, small steps to more rooms aside (excellent stage design), made in the style of that time, dressed in costumes from the era, this was a constant game, belly-pain-funny, a work to entertain in style.

Creative team

By NOËL COWARD

directed by Louise Fischer

Associate Director Chad Traupmann

Set Designer Tom Bannerman

Set Supervisor Barry French

Lighting/Sound Designer Michael Schell

Co-Costume Designer Deborah Mulhall

Co-Costume Designer Helen Kohlhagen

Stage Manager Rosane McNamara

Assistant Stage Manager Thomas O’Meara

Intimacy Director Megan Wray

Dialect Coach Helen Tonkin

Cast

Lib Campbell @lib_lib, Harrison Collis Oates @harrisoncollisoates, Peter Eyers, Liz Grindley, Molly Haddon @mollyhaddon, Oliver Harcourt-Ham, Holly Mazzola @hzola, Michela Noonan, Reuben Solomon @ruby_brine, Larissa Turton @larryturt, Luke Visentin @luke_visentin, Emily Weare