Present Laughter - Old Vic / Cinema July ‘24

Had a blast watching this tonight!

Obviously still some work to do before press night - the scene changes need to be quicker and there’s a couple of dodgy accents going on. That should be fixable though - the bigger problem is that Enzo Cilenti is miscast as Joe, I think. Too old, and not quite handsome enough, and his costume does not flatter him at all. With Gary obsessing about his age and thinning hair Joe really needs to be a gorgeous young thing.

But still, Andrew Scott is having great fun chewing up the scenery, and finding the small quiet moments of sincerity amidst the explosions. His energy really carries the whole thing. Not sure how he’ll manage on 2-show days - might be worth avoiding the matinees.

This was quite wonderful. I love the changes they have done to some of the characters. In the recent version of Company Bobby became Bobbie and Amy become Jamie. In this new production of Present Laughter Joanna becomes Joe and Henry becomes Helen . Seems to be fashionable but it really works, and it adds the gay twist to the plot. I think Noel Coward would have approved of this new version of his classic play.

The acting is generally top notch. Andrew Scott is excellent, he has brilliant comic timing, hope he gets to do Private Lives sometime in the future. Sophie Thompson had me in stitches a few times. Luke Thallon was also very funny. There was so much energy on stage! The audience seemed to be having a blast. Hope to see it again later in the run.

You've convinced me. I've just bought a slightly restricted Dress Circle ticket. Will form an interesting double-bill with Rosmersholm, followed by Night of the Iguana and Sweat the day after.

Scott, Varma, Thompson, Thallon, Hill all fantastic. The rest of the cast miscast. The first 45 mins absolutely brilliant and hilarious then it dipped and I thought never really recovered same levels. I thought the second scene with Scott and Cilenti was interminable. Their use of modern versions of Toxic and Rise Up added little to the play and felt like a director being all pretentious. Set functional. Costumes good. Scott delivered his lines brilliantly but was too angry a lot of the time and tried too hard to make you care about a character who is not likeable and was loved by many. If it had kept up what was in the first scene/45 mins then I would have enjoyed it more but overall I would go for 7/10.

Another attempt by large section of the audience to leave in the pause, it's very clearly dark so why they were determined that it was the interval.
Was having quite a blue day so this was something of a light relief. I've not seen Andrew Scott do comedy before and it was all rather a delight, Sophie Thompson was the most dialled down I've seen her and bang on the money, loved her timing and Indira Varma for whom I booked is just perfect in this kind of role. Also rather liked Joshua Hill's Fred. Did think there were some weak links, seemed quite a gulf in the performances of a few actors.
Lovely set and all played at a whip pace. Looked like full ovation. Sat next to someone who pre performance was singing along to the music and had an elbow firmly in my seat and my heart sank but turned out to be lovely when I ventured into conversation.

I was also at the Saturday night performance. I had my head in my hands in response to all the patrons rushing out of their seats and charging out the doors, turning their phones on, starting their act 1 reviews when it was only a scene change! I mean come on, a good rule of thumb is to wait for the lights to come up before literally pushing the fire doors open out onto the street, just to make sure you're not accidentally leaving mid-act. On the positive side of last nights audience though, it was nice to brush past Hans Zimmer, whom I'm a big fan of.

Andrew Scott is such a great stage presence, I really hope he doesn't slip into the world of never-ending film roles and hangs around a bit in the West End. I realised tonight this was the third time I've seen the excellent Luke Thallon on stage, so I'm becoming a bit of an accidental fanboy of his, and it was nice to see Indira Varma in something not as awful as Exit The King. I found Sophie Thompson absolutely hilarious as the secretary, I have a feeling she was creating laughs where none exist in the script.

The gender swapping element was fine, like others have written it took me a few minutes to piece together that this wasn't perhaps in Noel Cowards script, and where the changes might have been made. I don't want to make a big deal of it, it's interesting but not groundbreaking. And comparisons to the changes in Company are not exactly justified, it doesn't feel like any weight or new ideas is added to the play by way of the re-written roles.

The quality of this is high but the 'escalating farce' genre just isn't really my style, and as much as I thought everyone was doing a great job I just didn't love the play. The first scene was very funny, but after this it just wears on a bit, and my interest waned, and my laughter subsided. I really enjoy a good chuckle at the theatre, but I like it best when it comes with some genuine drama underneath. Judging by the rest of the audience's response I think that's a minority opinion - people were on their feet as soon as the first supporting actors came on for the bows. 

I thought Luke Thallon was great in Albion and he was also the young Walter in The Inheritance. Looking forward to seeing this on Wednesday.

And he was also great in the Pinter Play and fantastic in Cock!

I’m really interested to see this on NT Live after reading all of the 4 and 5 star reviews. Shame it’s a little way off in November. I saw Andrew Scott a few years in the Dazzle and he was excellent, such stage presence.

Loved this - and, god, it felt good just to sit in a theatre and laugh. (ADs, more genuine comedies, please.)

Andrew Scott gave a magnificent performance - the sort of performance that is so daring, quick-witted and varied that you feel lucky to have witnessed it, thinking it couldn't possibly be just like this night after night. I thought most of the rest of the performances were good, especially Luke Thallon (so different from other performances of his I've seen where he was gentle and introspective) and Sophie Thompson - particularly wonderful in her last scene. But there was a dip with the Morris, Helen and Jo scenes. However, overall a really terrific evening - oh - and the writing: 'here is your sordid little comb', etc.

Seats: we were in Q34/Q35 in the stalls having paid £21 for each. There really is no obstruction at all to Q34's view (which is probably why the price has shot up for that seat for other performances.) Q35 does have a pole which blocked a bit of the stage but could be worked around leaning to one side or the other.) A big plus of both seats is that there is tonnes of legroom - actually stretch out your legs comfort! For £20, Q35 seems a very decent choice for future productions if they keep the configuration like this.