The main foyer has been configured again and again and it still feels unwelcoming. The Dress Circle is always like the Black Hole of Waterloo - and now they have crammed tables and chairs into the central space, while the basement area is given over to a bar/restaurant space that's open to all - of course an earner for the Vic - but again, the audience for the actual show is left with no space due to the non-theatre-going table-hoggers... and of course there is the notorious lack of loos for patrons.
But now the Old Vic is addressing this latter issue by rebuilding the basement while the run of PRESENT LAUGHTER is happening. Couldn't they wait until a gap in their season? Temporary portaloos are in the road next to the theatre while the balcony loos are also closed - so the 1,000+ patrons all have to use these, mostly during a 20 minute interval. At the end of the show, we were only allowed to leave down the back stairs... which of course took forever because the exit doors lead out - you guessed - straight into the queue for the toilets.
Believe me, it would have to be an exceptional production that managed to transcend this frustrating visit. Luckily it was.
Noel Coward wrote the play in 1939 but it's premiere was cancelled at the outbreak of WWII so it waited until 1942 before being staged with Coward in the blazing star role of Garry Essendine, an unashamedly self-centered West End leading man. Over the years it has been revived frequently with actors who have lent towards the showy - O'Toole, Sinden, Callow, McKellen, Kline - and I first saw it played by Alex Jennings in the National Theatre's 2008 production. Although Jennings was fine as Garry it wasn't a production that particularly grabbed me. So I leapt at the opportunity to see it again and also to see how it worked with a younger than usual actor in the lead.
Director Matthew Warchus says that he had shied away from taking on a Noel Coward play before but when he and star Andrew Scott hit upon the idea that, by changing the genders of a married couple in the play, it could open the play up in a vibrant new way while keeping the shape and, more importantly, the essence of Coward's vision intact.
Another morning in West End star Garry Essendine's Mayfair apartment and his staff - secretary Monica, valet Fred and cleaner Miss Erikson - go quietly about their duties while their temperamental employer sleeps off his hangover - and as usual, there is a 'guest' who has stayed the night having somehow 'forgotten their latch-key'. This time it's gushing starlet Daphne who Garry - when he eventually wakes up - has to quote his most romantic Shelley verse to before he can get rid of her. Garry's hope for a quiet day to prepare for an overseas tour is interrupted by appearances from his closest associates - his manager Morris, his producer Helen and his estranged wife Liz - who, along with Monica, is the only one that Garry feels he can fully trust.
Liz is worried however: she has heard that Helen's husband Joe is having an affair with Morris - who vehemently protests his innocence - but Liz knows that if Helen finds out, Garry's protective bubble will be broken. Added to all this, there is a forgotten appointment with young Roland Maule, a new playwright who has asked for Garry's opinion of his play. They clash when Maule reacts badly to Garry's criticisms and he belittles the shallow West End star vehicles the actor appears in - before confessing that he actually adores Garry and wrote the play just to meet his hero.
Later that night, finally alone in his apartment, Garry is visited by the suave Joe who appears to have "forgotten his latch-key". Garry tells his unwanted visitor exactly what they all think of him and warns that gold-digger Joe will be cast out of the golden circle if he keeps seeing Morris - but Joe has his eye on a bigger prize than Morris... needless to say, the narcissist in Garry cannot refuse the offer of more adoration and they spend the night together.
Warchus has done his gender-flip on the characters of Joe and Helen - as written by Coward the characters are predatory actress Joanne married to manager Henry. But the change works wonderfully well, staying true to Coward the writer and more importantly, Coward the man. It also works well within the plot: having seen Garry ruling all around him as a spoiled star, here he is confronted with someone who refuses to be cowed by his imperious manner; Joe knows Garry's Achilles heel and he strikes...
Once again Garry's staff quietly go through their morning chores only now they have the boastful presence of Joe to contend with rather than some airhead starlet. Garry has to finally face up to his actions but not before all the characters descend on the apartment and end up being thrown in kitchens, spare rooms and bathrooms as Garry finds himself in the middle of a French farce situation.
Warchus has saved another change for the end of the play - echoing the end of the first half - where Garry is alone in the apartment with someone close to him calling his bluff. The original has a more obvious curtain-line and business, but Warchus has the play end on a more uncertain note, playing up the feeling of sadness and ambiguity that runs beneath the surface of what has gone before.
Matthew Warchus handles the material wonderfully, letting both the verbal wit and physical comedy shine but always keeping that undercurrent of Garry's loneliness flowing just below the surface. If there is a problem with the show it's that some of the supporting performances fail to rise - the characters of Morris and Helen are particularly ill-served.
But there are several which contribute wonderfully to the show's success: Enzo Cilenti has just the right air of calculating brazenness for the character of Joe and his big scene at the end of the first act was very well-handled, seductive and menacing at the same time. Luke Thallon was great fun as Roland Maule the writer in love with Garry's glamour and I particularly loved Joshua Hil's laconic, deadpan valet Fred, indifferent to the artistic temperaments exploding around him.
Sophie Thompson was in delicious form as Monica, the seen-it-all Scottish secretary who is always one step ahead of Garry's demands and who keeps a big sister-like eye on him for his own good; her knowing one-liners were delivered to perfection. I also liked Indira Varma as Liz, the poised and cool ex-wife might not be a particular stretch for her but she made an excellent counterpoint to the shenanigans around her and she hit the right sensible tone throughout.
PRESENT LAUGHTER cannot work without an actor who can be the outrageous temperamental star and also suggest the emptiness behind the glittering mask and Andrew Scott was sheer perfection. Watching him soar in this role, it dawned on me that here finally is an actor who comes close to the quicksilver quality that the late Ian Charleson brought to his theatre performances: the same graceful physicality, effortless charisma and the ability to hold a moment between comedy and despair, revealing all you need to know about his character that is hidden underneath the lines he is saying. He was that good.
The run is now sold out but NT Live are filming it for a November screening - click on the picture below to book your seats - just think, you probably won't have to queue for a portaloo at the cinema...
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