November 4, 2003

Boise State Theatre Arts Department To Stage 'Present Laughter'

The Boise State University theatre arts department continues its 2003-04 season with the Noel Coward comedy “Present Laughter.” Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Nov 13-15 and 19-22, and at 2 p.m. Nov. 16 and 23 in the Morrison Center Stage II theater. Tickets are $9 general and $7 for students and seniors at Select-a-Seat. Boise State students, faculty and staff can receive free tickets at campus box offices. Please note that this production contains adult content.     Written in 1939 and first produced in 1942, “Present Laughter,” takes its title from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night:” What is love? Tis not hereafter,/ Present mirth hath present laughter;/ What’s to come is still unsure:/ In delay there lies no plenty;/ Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty, / Youth’s a stuff will not endure.     In this semi-autobiographical comedy, the main character (whom Coward was thought to have modeled after himself) takes Shakespeare’s advice too much to heart. A popular English stage star of the 1930s, Garry Essendine is a lady’s man who is constantly surrounded my admiring fans, enjoys fine wine and sleeps much too late. While struggling to plan an upcoming trip to Africa, his elegant London flat is invaded by a lovestruck ingénue, an adulterous producer and a married seductress, along with Garry’s estranged wife and an overly passionate young playwright who is quite mad.     A classic farce, “Present Laughter” is directed by theatre arts professor Gordon Reinhart. It features Douglas Hoggatt as Garry Essendine, Bethany Adams as Joanna Lyppiatt, a seductress and the wife of Essendine’s best friend, and Liberty Chase as Liz Essendine. Contact                              Gordon Reinhart                           Department of theatre arts                       208 426-1406                                 Media Contact Kathleen Craven communications and marketing 208 426-3275