Present Laughter, by Noel Coward

Christian Theatre Company , Moser Theatre, Wadham, until Saturday 19th May 2001

Noël Coward's brilliant wit and his gift for satire are conveyed with great enthusiasm by the Christian Theatre Company in their production of Present Laughter, running this week at Wadham College's Moser Theatre. The student cast have certainly injected a great deal of energy into the play, which evokes much of the extravagance of 1940s theatrical life. However, much of the success of the production lies in Coward's script and concept rather than this company's interpretation, and while the result is certainly amusing, it lacks Coward's characteristic sharpness.

Nonetheless, there are some convincing performances, most especially from Chris Dent and Lindsey Richardson as Garry and Liz Essendine, the couple who 'have never quite got around to a divorce'; these two are undoubtedly the stars of the show. Dent's acting is splendidly overdone, one minute a petulant child, the next a deadpan comic, conveying much of the blurring of distinctions between life and art that lies at the heart of the play. Ms Richardson similarly excels as the astute Liz, who, despite her differences with her husband, still understands him better than all his adoring fans.

With such lively performances as these, it is a shame that the production is let down by weak supporting players, several of whom do not seem to be able to match the leading players' strengths or Coward's sharpness. Coward explores and exposes a number of Garry's relationships with those people who surround him - significantly, he cast himself as Garry in the original production - and the contrasts in the strengths of the supporting actors occasionally distort the structure of the play. The production is also weakened by its curiously nondescript set, which conveys little of 1940s high-society style or the personality of Garry himself, in whose flat the play is set.

However, despite these lapses in inventiveness, this production is often highly entertaining, and the vivacity of several of the performers conveys much of the charm and subtlety of Coward's script. Coward's talent to amuse shines through at the last.

Olivia Rowland, 15 / 5 / 01