The title of Present Laughter is drawn from a line in the song “O mistress mine” in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, sung by Feste the fool: “present mirth hath present laughter.”
Playwright Noel Coward ruminated over the idea of Present Laughter for 3 years before sitting down to write it; once he did, the play was completed in 6 days. He wrote the play in tandem with another comedy, This Happy Breed. Both provided Coward the type of bravura comic role that he excelled at and he planned to star in the opening productions for both in 1939. Unfortunately, production had to be halted
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Present Laughter guide sections
