Noël Coward's Present Laughter

Nov 3, 2017

2h 14m

★ 6.4

Overview

A self-obsessed actor in the midst of a mid-life crisis juggles a fawning ingenue, a crazed playwright, his ex-wife, and the personal lives of his friends. Originally broadcast as an episode of the PBS series "Great Performances" (season 45, episode 4).

Genres

Drama

Production Companies

BroadwayHD

Thirteen

Noël Coward's Present Laughter Trailers

Cast

Garry Essendine

Kevin Kline

Liz Essendine

Kate Burton

Monica Reed

Kristine Nielsen

Joanna Lyppiatt

Cobie Smulders

Roland Maule

Bhavesh Patel

Morris Dixon

Reg Rogers

Fred

Matt Bittner

Miss Erikson

Ellen Harvey

Henry Lyppiatt

Peter Francis James

Daphne Stillington

Tedra Millan

Lady Saltburn

Sandra Shipley

Set halfway through the 17th century, a church play is performed for the benefit of the young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings from the baby, and even claiming she's the true mother by virgin birth. However, when she attempts to seduce the bishop's son, the Church exacts a terrible revenge.

5.0

Three Plays by Tennessee Williams

Apr 15, 1958

A presentation of Tennessee Williams' three one-act plays: "Moony's Kid Don't Cry", "The Last of My Solid Gold Watches", and "This Property Is Condemned".

4.2

Convicted

Nov 1, 1931

A criminologist investigates the murder of a Broadway producer on an ocean liner.

7.6

National Theatre Live: Barber Shop Chronicles

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For generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling. Follow along as we leap from a barber shop in Peckham to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra over the course of a single day.

7.4

National Theatre Live: Medea

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Medea is a wife and a mother. For the sake of her husband, Jason, she’s left her home and borne two sons in exile. But when he abandons his family for a new life, Medea faces banishment and separation from her children. Cornered, she begs for one day’s grace. It’s time enough. She exacts an appalling revenge and destroys everything she holds dear.

7.2

Phoebe in Wonderland

Feb 7, 2008

The fantastical tale of a little girl who won't - or can't - follow the rules. Confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her, Phoebe seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher, even as her brilliant but anguished mother looks to Phoebe herself for inspiration.

0.0

Les Justes

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Today, immense confusion reigns over the quest for the absolute, revolt and fury, violence and its appendages. And many people plunge back in Albert Camus' work to find answers. In the foreword to his play, the philosopher and writer summarizes the intrigue as follows: "In February 1905, in Moscow, a group of terrorists, belonging to the Socialist Revolutionary Party, organized a bomb attack against the Grand Duke Serge, Tsar's uncle ”. The rapper and slammer Abd Al Malik offers with this "musical tragedy" a contemporary staging of "The Just", a complete creation, faithful to the text of Camus, but reinventing a scenic and musical language resolutely inscribed in our time.

7.5

Shimmer

Oct 1, 1993

The solo actor in Shimmer tells the story by becoming each character in turn. The play takes place in 1956, in a harsh Midwestern juvenile detention center, where two boys befriend each other.

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0.0

Reckless Serenade

Nov 17, 2014

Seeking quite in the park, a young songwriter runs into three familiar strangers with some bad news.

5.8

Where We Disappear

Jul 21, 2019

A story of survival about a woman's first night in a Soviet prison camp. After committing a crime to protect her son, Anastasia is sentenced to 12 years in a Soviet prison camp. Her arrival upsets the balance between the inmates. In a night of backstabbing and shifting alliances, she must find a way to escape and discover the hidden truth of her survival.

6.4

L'Amour fou

Jan 15, 1969

A troubled marriage is tested by the couple's involvement in a theatrical production of Racine’s Andromaque.

8.0

The Victim Of The House Of The Pride

Jan 1, 1976

A Kuwaiti comedy play that revolves around Saif, a loyal and diligent worker whom experiences difficulties at home which lead to disastrous results.

0.0

Good Morning, Kuwait

Jan 1, 1995

A Kuwaiti comedy play starring Abdulrahman Al-'Aqel, Intisar Al-Sharaah, Mohammed Al-'Ujaimi, Abdulnasser Darweesh.

0.0

The Guardian is the Thief

Oct 11, 2007

A Kuwaiti comedy play starring Taariq Al-'Ali, Khalid Al-Beraiki, Shihaab Hajiah and others

10.0

Al-Manakh Knights

Feb 23, 1983

The first Gulf economic play centered on an issue that affected members of Kuwaiti society, which sparked widespread controversy between Kuwaiti society and the Gulf community in general, and the issue was the "Al Manakh Market" crisis in 1982, which ended in losses exceeding $ 22 billion. Where the story tells about the second oil boom of the Gulf states at the end of the seventies and the beginning of the eighties of the twentieth century AD where the price of oil increased continuously until the Gulf countries recorded large financial surpluses, so the money poured into the stock market significantly until it opened a stock trading office in a semi-parallel office and was named a market "Al Manakh" in which money flowed greatly from almost all segments of Kuwaiti society and even foreign residents and some individuals from the Gulf states and increased frantic speculation and increased buying and selling for the future until it reached astronomical numbers.

0.0

Montserrat

Mar 2, 1971

The story is set during the South American Wars of Independence. Simón Bolivar, the liberator, has escaped from Spanish custody with the aid of an idealistic Spanish officer, Captain Montserrat. The Spanish commander, Colonel Izquierdo ('left' in Spanish), threatens Montserrat with torture to find out where Bolivar can be recaptured.

1.0

National Theatre Live: Everyman

Jul 16, 2015

Everyman is successful, popular and riding high when Death comes calling. He is forced to abandon the life he has built and embark on a last, frantic search to recruit a friend, anyone, to speak in his defence. But Death is close behind, and time is running out. One of the great primal, spiritual myths, Everyman asks whether it is only in death that we can understand our lives. A cornerstone of English drama since the 15th century, it now explodes onto the stage in a startling production with words by Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate, and movement by Javier De Frutos.

7.0

Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself - The Play

Sep 1, 2002

When Madea gets sick, her family comes to her aid. What they don't realize is that they're the ones who need her help. As always, Madea's cockeyed outlook on life saves the day and guarantees side-splitting laughs along the way.