Author: Noël Coward
Adapted by: Tracy-Ann Oberman
Director: Lindsay Posner
Venue: Arts Theatre Cambridge
Performance: 8 September 2026

Producers: Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Augusta Productions.

Noël Coward wrote Present Laughter as a vehicle for himself, playing the egotistical, womanising actor Garry Essendine. Tracy-Ann Oberman has switched both the gender and era, creating an entirely new dynamic for the play, now set in 1970s New York, and a fabulous role for herself as Geri, a British diva with multiple dalliances who has been 39 for the past decade.

This is not Oberman’s first rodeo. She previously made a similarly successful gender switch in The Merchant of Venice 1936, playing Shylock as a woman and relocating the action to the 1930s.

The concept works just as brilliantly here, and Oberman shines as brightly as her glittery, ABBA-esque jumpsuit. She plays Geri as a sharp but vulnerable woman, attempting to hold back the ravages of time by allowing herself to be seduced by a succession of younger men. Her stage presence is mesmerising, and she commands the stage for much of the play.

There are some wonderfully comic touches as we see similar scenarios play out repeatedly, with Geri – and her increasingly weary staff – becoming jaded by the reality behind the star-struck youths’ romantic attentions.

The supporting cast is equally impressive, with James Dreyfus providing a wonderful straight foil as her secretary, Monty, and Adrian Lukis excellent as her long-suffering ex-husband, Len.

Geri is surrounded by a close-knit circle of theatrical friends with whom she has an almost symbiotic relationship: they all need her, but she also needs them to manage both her career and her chaotic personal life. However, her latest affair with Johannes, the husband of her friend Henrietta, threatens to blow their carefully constructed lives apart. Kit Young, recently seen in The Rivals, is both engaging and menacing as the manipulative Johannes.

There are some wonderful touches throughout this production. Even the curtain is covered with photographs of Geri alongside various 1970s icons, including Andy Warhol and Princess Margaret. The stunning set recreates a stylish New York apartment, complete with a dramatic spiral staircase and windows looking out onto the street opposite. Decorated with posters of Geri in various roles, it establishes her theatrical world perfectly.

The costumes are equally evocative. Geri appears in glamorous nightwear and dressing gowns – a feminine echo of Coward’s famous smoking jackets – as well as spectacular 1970s-style jumpsuits and platform shoes. The older men are smartly attired in suits, while their younger counterparts sport suitably shiny shirts.

The dialogue is as witty as one would expect from a Coward play, with added farce, and it lands beautifully, with the cast maintaining both the comic momentum and the rapid-fire pace throughout.

Overall, this is an excellent evening of entertainment, with a wonderful cast bringing Coward’s sharply defined (but gender-switched) characters to life. Oberman’s bold reimagining feels fresh and distinctive while retaining all the wit, glamour and deliciously theatrical spirit of the original.