Cork postmaster delivers classic play to stage

Actor and theatre producer, Ian McGuirk, whose day job is the postmaster in Turners Cross, is taking a considerable financial risk in personally funding a production of the Noel Coward comedy-of-manners, Present Laughter, at the Everyman.

Ian says “it’s art for the love of it”, and he hopes to make the money back from the box office.

He is producing the melodrama, first staged at the West End in 1942, under the auspices of his company, Ian McGuirk Productions. It aims to stage classic plays from the likes of Oscar Wilde, JB Priestley, John B Keane, as well as Noel Coward.

As befits a Noel Coward play, the set is lavish and nothing has been spared on the costumes. The play presents an exaggerated version of the playwright himself, his entourage, his irers and lifestyle.

This production was first staged at Cork Arts Theatre in 2022 to full houses. The was that it needed a bigger stage so Ian is pleased that it will be staged at the Everyman.

Directed by Mary Curtin, the production features well known Cork actors such as Shirley McCarthy, Rebecca Allman, Ann Dorgan, Vanessa Hyde, Marie O’Donovan, Jim O’Mahoney, Kenneth Speight, and rising talent Oskar Smith who recently completed filming with veteran actor, Colm Meaney.

Ian plays the leading role in the play, the self-obsessed fictional actor and playwright Garry Essendine, as he prepares to travel for a touring commitment to Africa. Cue a series of events bordering on farce.

The Garry character was, in his youth, known as a matinée idol.

“He is the equivalent of the modern day social media superstar. It’s very autobiographical, all about how the character used his charm and protected himself with his entourage which includes his ex-wife, his manager, his secretary and also, there’s his fans. 

He’s narcissistic and egotistical. It’s all about him, his career and success, how driven he is, and how he used his entourage to get him where he’s at.

His success is genuine, but what’s behind it is his own inability to have sincere and truthful relationships.

“That’s the driving force behind the play, which looks at the hypocrisy of the main character. Even the acting he does is over-the-top and not very truthful.”

The play also features a crazed young playwright, Roland Maule.

“He lets Garry know that there is more to acting than the kind of melodrama that he does. While Roland is crazy, he has an extremely important point to make. He basically highlights Garry’s inadequacies and how egotistical and melodramatic he is. And how there’s a lot more to life than all that. He should be more truthful to himself and everyone else.”

Garry’s vanity makes it hard for him to cope with ageing. He is turning 50 and can’t deal with turning grey and the lines on his face. This character is having a mid-life crisis.

“He is no longer the suave, debonair character he used to be. People aren’t falling in love with him as much as they did. Also, he has all these people around him, some of whom pretend to love him. He has nothing of his own. Maybe he’s just incapable of falling in love with somebody. That’s the sad part of the play. It’s important to convey this.

The National Theatre production of this play, starring Andrew Scott, dwelled on that too. There’s a lot more to it than a stylised Noel Coward comedy. I saw the screen version of the Andrew Scott production.

Over the years, Ian did a lot of classic plays with “the late great Michael Twomey, through the Everyman Theatre Company. They used to do classic plays. I feel they’re not done often enough anymore. Actors love performing in those plays. They give them great tools.

“Noel Coward is all about style and sophistication. It’s rewarding for actors. Contemporary plays, although very good, don’t give actors the same enjoyment as the traditional conservative pieces.”

Moving the production from the 100-seater Cork Arts Theatre to the 650-seater Everyman shows ambition on Ian’s part.

“I feel you can’t do justice to a Noel Coward play unless you put money into the set,” he said. “Otherwise, the whole ambience of the piece falls a bit flat.”

The set designer is Elisa Golla Rosa.

The villain of the piece is played by Shirley McCarthy. Coward described this role as that of “a diamond- studded siren. She goes around the place having affairs and seduces Garry. Garry thinks all of them (including himself) have a low moral com. No-one is really different. That’s the crux of the play - the exposure of feckless selfishness, an irresponsible class of people as opposed to the lower middle class in the 1930s and 1940s in England who had to strive very hard to make a living. The upper classes had everything. They tried to entertain themselves out of sheer boredom by engaging in irresponsible behaviour.”

Ian adds that Noel Coward was a man of contradictions.

“He was described as a champion of sexual freedom. On the other hand, he was known as a finger-wagging moralist. He was a reflection of society as a whole.”

He its being nervous about the play. “The thing about Cork is people don’t tend to book for the theatre until a week before it starts. Word-of-mouth is huge and Facebook is also important for getting the word out.”

Here’s hoping the financial outlay pays off.

Present Laughter is at the Everyman from September 24-29. Booking on https://everymancork.com/