Kevin Kline to Lead One-Night Reading of Present Laughter for the Acting Company

The Acting Company has announced plans to continue its 2016 John McDonald Salon Series with a reading of Noël Coward’s comedy Present Laughter on February 22 at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA.

Academy Award winner Kevin Kline, an alumnus of the Acting Company, will lead the cast as both codirector and star. Featured in the cast will be Tony winner Nina Arianda (Venus in Fur), Stephen DeRosa (On the Town), Carson Elrod (Peter and the Starcatcher), Francesca Faridany (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), Matthew Greer (Cabaret), Reg Rogers (You Can’t Take It With You), Erika Rolfsrud (The Coast of Utopia), Susanna Stahlmann, and Michele Tauber. Kevin Kline will codirect the evening with Acting Company artistic director Ian Belknap.

Noël Coward’s 1939 comic play follows a few days in the life of the successful, self-obsessed light comedy actor Garry Essendine as he prepares to travel for a touring commitment in Africa. Amid a series of events bordering on farce, Garry has to deal with women who want to seduce him, placate both his long-suffering secretary and his estranged wife, cope with a crazed young playwright, and overcome his impending mid-life crisis.

The Salon Reading Series will continue on April 18 with Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, directed by Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God) and featuring Michael Urie (Buyer and Cellar) and Tony Award winner Gabriel Ebert (Matilda The Musical), also to be held at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater. The series will conclude on May 16 with The House That Will Not Stand by Marcus Gardley, to be held at Culture Project.

For tickets to Present Laughter, click here.