“Everybody worships me. It’s nauseating.”
New Theatre presents Present Laughter by the one and only Noël Coward. This fast, furious and extremely funny farce, complete with excruciating misunderstandings, toe-curling narrow escapes and high camp double-entendres, presents Noël Coward at his absolute best.
Actor Garry Essendine is possibly the most desired man in the world. He is handsome, charming, self-deprecating, self-obsessed, and in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Over the course of a few days, on the eve of an overseas tour, he finds his life bombarded by the conflicting desires of others. As an obsessed fan, a starlet, an aspiring playwright and a stage mother cause chaos, it is the efforts of his not-quite-ex-wife, his manager and his long-suffering secretary that may finally save the day.
Helmed by our Artistic Director, Louise Fischer, the production team includes Assistant Director Chad Traupmann, Set Designer Tom Bannerman, Set Supervisor Barry French, Lighting/Sound Designer Michael Schell, Co-Costume Designers Deborah Mulhall and Helen Kohlhagen, Stage Manager Rosane McNamara, Assistant Stage Manager Thomas O’Meara, Intimacy Director Megan Wray, Dialect Coach Helen Tonkin and Stage Manager Rosane McNamara.
The ensemble cast comprises returning actors: Lib Campbell (The Spook), Harrison Collis Oates (Dangerous Liaisons), Peter Eyers (Privates on Parade, Harvest, The Real Thing, Australia Day), Molly Haddon (Sunset Strip), Oliver Harcourt-Ham (Shakespeare in Love), Michela Noonan (Off the Record), Reuben Solomon (Homos; Or Everyone in America, The Front Page, Hangmen), Larissa Turton (The Frogs: In Hell They Sing Show Tunes), Luke Visentin (The Vibrator Play, Hir, Control, and Atlantis), Emily Weare (The Real Thing, August Osage County, Angry Fags, Ink), and making their New Theatre debuts: Liz Grindley and Holly Mazzola.
Says Louise: “This play called to us, not only because it offers brilliant and acerbic comedy, but because it gives us a chance to examine what happens when people exist in a state of consistently craving and seeking approval. This is something we observe in our own lives day-to-day, and it is impossible to ignore the impacts of this in our society as a whole. Coward’s work continues to delight audiences, as the wit and reflection on human nature is still searingly relevant – and as he said himself ‘There will always be a few people…in every generation who will find my work entertaining and true.'”
SEASON
11 November – 13 December 2025
PERFORMANCES
Thu – Sat 7:30pm, Sun 2pm
Sat 13 Dec, 2pm only
TICKETS
Full $45
Concessions & Groups (6+) $40
Early Bird & Thrifty Thursdays $30
Previews $25
(+ booking fee)
BOOKINGS
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