Reviews
A Gift Of “Laughter” In New Milford
NEW MILFORD – This year TheatreWorks New Milford has forsworn the Christmas themed holiday show in favor of Present Laughter, a frothy comedy by Noel Coward. Admittedly colored by autobiographical implications, the play revolves around a vain, self-absorbed, and highly successful matinee idol, whose approaching mid-life crisis (he’s turning forty) has made him vulnerable to…
Noel Coward and Friends
In Noel Coward’s play about self-centered, histrionic and mostly attractive theater people, Garry Essendine stands out. That’s because Coward was re-creating himself in “Present Laughter,” the drawing room comedy he wrote in 1939, when the world was falling apart. This handsome, mannered and articulate actor is always on. “I’m watching myself go by,” he tells…
‘Laughter’ brightens holidays
Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter” arrives at the New Milford TheatreWorks just in time to bring plenty of color, comedy and class to the holiday season. A large cast full of quirky characters who often find themselves in awkward situations is not only cause for laughter, but the stuff that good comedies are made of. Long…
‘Present Laughter’ is an Early Holiday Gift – Noel Coward’s light comedy comes to life at TheatreWorks New Milford
Knowledgeable theatergoers will thoroughly enjoy Present Laughter, an amusing two-act comedy by legendary playwright Noël Coward, now on stage at TheatreWorks New Milford. Like a Robert Ludlum novel, the play starts out slowly, introducing characters and presenting necessary background details – all to set the stage for the inevitable, fast-paced climax. Once the tale picks up…
Classic Coward Play is at TheatreWorks
In a holiday season strained by a still-struggling economy and the stresses of everyday life only magnified by the season itself, we all need a break from it all—and an entertaining one at that. Fortunately, TheatreWorks New Milford’s production of legendary playwright Noël Coward’s classic comedy of manners, “Present Laughter,” under the direction of Beth…
Noel Coward’s romp ‘Present Laughter’ at TheatreWorks
New Milford’s TheatreWorks is currently treating audiences to a delightful comedy by that national treasure of English drama, Noel Coward. Long acknowledged as one of his country’s outstanding wits, raconteurs, directors, diarists, letter-writers and actors, Coward’s humor still stands up as a timeless expression of its author’s talent. “Present Laughter,” is a Coward drama bursting with…
TheatreWorks pays tribute to Lynn Redgrave
Theatre Works, New Milford: Leave it to director Jane Farnol and actress Susan Pettibone to take on the late Lynn Redgrave’s autobiographical one-woman show. Lynn Redgrave, the daughter of the great Shakespearean actor Sir Michael Redgrave, wrote this play in 1993. Essentially, it is Lynn’s story of what it was like growing up as the…
Personal Insight Allows New Milford’s ‘Shakespeare’ To Shine
NEW MILFORD — New Milford’s Theatreworks is once again ratcheting up the level of intellectual strength it expects from its audiences, by presenting a work that presumes not only some familiarity with Shakespeare, but also an acquaintance with the great theatrical figures of the twentieth century. Of course it is possible to see, and enjoy,…
A Sterling Production of “Shakespeare for My Father”
In the theater world, one-actor shows are where the rubber meets the road. There are no places to hide: just the script, the director’s interpretation, and the actor’s talent. TheatreWorks New Milford has clearly mastered this simple yet challenging formula with its current production of Shakespeare for My Father, the autobiographical tale and playwriting debut of…
Recalling Old Sorrows, And Overcoming Them
Lynn Redgrave was barely noticed by Sir Michael Redgrave. The actor. Her father. In “Shakespeare for My Father,” a play Lynn Redgrave wrote about growing up in this illustrious theater family, she searches her father’s journals after his death, particularly the ones from 1943, seeking notice of her birth. No notice taken. Not much notice…