An absolute hoot
Times
Hilarious
Brighton Argus
Precisely the performance a CFT summer season opener demands
Chichester Observer
Actor Garry Essendine is at the height of his fame. He’s handsome, witty, surrounded by adoring fans, and about to take his latest theatrical hit overseas. He’s also in the middle of a raging mid-life crisis.
Holed up in his studio, he is assailed from all quarters: a beautiful debutante wants to bed him, an aspiring playwright from Uckfield wants to worship him, and his own producer’s wife wants to... well, what exactly does she want?
Under the sardonic eye of his long-suffering secretary and the unshockable gaze of his estranged but determined wife, Garry struggles to keep all the balls in the air.
This sparkling comedy about sex, fame and the theatre itself – and a man wrestling with his own self-image – is widely regarded as Noël Coward’s most autobiographical play.
Sean Foley’s hit West End productions include The Painkiller,Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense (Olivier Award for Best Comedy), The Ladykillers, The Dresser (at Chichester in 2016) and the multi award-winning The Play What I Wrote.
Actor, comedian and presenter Rufus Hound plays Garry, returning to Chichester following Neville’s Island (2013). His stage work also includes One Man, Two Guvnors and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (West End).
Katherine Kingsley plays Liz Essendine; last seen here in The Rehearsal and as Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain, her recent West End work includes Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Tracy-Ann Oberman plays Monica; she played Golde in Fiddler On The Roof (Festival 2017), and her stage credits also include Boeing-Boeing and Stepping Out in the West End.
This production features the song WHY DO THE WRONG PEOPLE TRAVEL? from the musical SAIL AWAY written by Noël Coward.
SAIL AWAY © NC AVENTALES AG 1961
Copyright agent: Alan Brodie Representation Ltd; www.alanbrodie.com
Purchase a digital copy of the programme
Our programmes are designed to be the perfect insightful companion to the production. This programme for Present Laughter includes exclusive articles about Noël Coward written by Al Senter and Kate Bassett, in addition to rehearsal photography, biographies, events and news from the Theatre.
By clicking on BUY you will be re-directed to Issuu's website. The purchased programme will be available to read on their website and app.
Purchasing a digital programme does not include the purchase of a printed programme.

Prologue tickets available now!