Gardner, in The Guardian, found the play "deeply unpleasant ... misogynistic and snobbish". Two years later the same paper's chief drama critic, Michael Billington, called it an "imperishable comedy". Reviewing the 2019 Old Vic production, a critic in The Hollywood Reporter noted that "beneath the frantic surface is a subtle depiction of a man trapped by fame and his own image. ... Garry ... eagerly milks melodrama, hammily proclaiming his misfortunes, namely of being in perpetual service to his entourage. And having "acted" for so long offstage, he's reached the point where no one is willing to believe him when trying to be himself." Another, in The Financial Times, remarked that Garry's "susceptibility to flattery stems from a deep well of loneliness ... neediness ... drives Garry's hunger for affection". The reviewer of The Independent agreed, noting that the leading character's surname, Essendine, is an anagram of "neediness", and commented, "Coward's comedy asks us to wonder: who needs whom most – the sun or the planets that orbit it?" Notes, references and sources Notes References Sources External links Present Laughter Broadway Revival Info & Multimedia (BroadwayWorld International Database) Plays by Noël Coward 1939 plays Comedy plays Plays set in London