Dawn Bonker
Joanna Lypiatt, played by Emma Turpen ’14 (left), battles Liz Essendine, played by Ali Weiss ’14 (right) for the affections of Garry Essedine, played by Harrison Givens ’14 (center), who finds the whole affair amusing in Noël Coward’s witty comedy, “Present Laughter.”
Present Laughter
, Noel Cöward’s high-spirited and witty comedy about an aging film idol, will be presented by the
Department of Theater
, under the direction of Andrew Barnicle, longtime artistic director at the Laguna Playhouse, with a Thursday, Sept. 26, opening night.
Barnicle served as artistic director of The Laguna Playhouse from 1991 through 2010, producing more than 100 shows and directing more than 40 of them, including many world, U.S., west coast and Southern California premieres. Barnicle also previously served as Head of Theatre at United States International University’s School of Performing and Visual Arts in San Diego, where associate Tamiko Washington, associate professor in the Department of Theatre, studied with him.
No stranger to working with students, Barnicle says he is particularly interested in helping students learn how to create human characters in a play that is often performed as a farce.
“Every acting student should have the experience of working in a show in this style, just as they learn Shakespeare and naturalism,” he says. “Noel Cöward presents a lot of challenges for young actors, from the language component of his plays to the preconceived notions of style the students may have. It is important for them to round out their training through experience with the most successful playwright of the twentieth century.”
Present Laughter
performances will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Waltmar Theatre September 26-28 and October 3-5, with an additional Oct. 5 performance at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 to $15. For ticket information, visit
www.chapman.edu/copa
or call (714) 997-6812.
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