Great comedy role for Callow (From Gazette Series)

Great comedy role for Callow

SIMON Callow whose character flamboyantly dropped down dead in the middle of Scottish dancing in Four Weddings and a Funeral is making another over the top turn in this Noel Coward comedy.

Coward wrote the male lead of womanising matinee idol Garry Essendine for himself and played it in his usual sparkling style and now Callow is making the part his own with great enthusiasm.

"Coward was of course a maniser rather than a womaniser but the character is autobiographical in as much as it showed the wit and glamorous life he led as an actor - although he was a writer predominantly," said Callow.

"Although this is a very funny play, it has depth to it. It shows what can happen when people are working with someone with a tempestuous life and a high libido. What often happens is that a charismatic individual in the centre of an operation doesn't always have the power they think they have.

"It is great fun playing a character trying to be sexy. Coward was a master craftsman whose work I have always admired immensely. He had a great intellect and wit who wrote fantastic dialogue."

Callow admires him so much that he has just delivered a script to film company HBO based on Coward's life.

As well as having directed and starred in many West End hits including the Mystery of Charles Dickens and Carmen Jones, he has played in television including Dickens in Dr Who and written 16 books. His latest is the second volume of a trilogy of his biography of Orson Welles, Hello Americans due to be published next month.

How does he find the time? "I have to set myself strict deadlines. I am lucky that I love everything I do but I particularly love writing."

Present Laughter also stars Lysette Anthony known for her role as Rachel Heath in The Bill.

The plot tells the story of matinee idol and egotist, Garry Essendine, who is making a concerted attempt to deny his advancing years and receding hairline by indulging in rampant womanising. Garry's antics and casual love affairs require the most careful handling by those closest to him. Just before departing for an African tour, Garry finds himself besieged by a rush of ardent admirers, not to mention his secretary and his ex-wife.

In the very best Coward tradition, these entanglements escalate from one farcical turn to another, spurring delicious dialogue and sparkling repartee. The stage is set for a battle of glittering egos.