Baz Bamigboye for the Daily Mail reports that Andrew Scott will star in a new revival of Noël Coward’s PRESENT LAUGHTER at the Old Vic.

The new production will be helmed by the Old Vic’s artistic director Matthew Warchus and will reportedly begin performances at the Waterloo venue this June. Official dates and confirmation for the run are still to be announced.

Andrew Scott is best known to audiences for his role as Jim Moriarty in the BBC series Sherlock, a performance that earned Scott a BAFTA in 2012 for Best Supporting Actor. On stage, Scott achieved massive acclaim for his performance in the title role in Robert Icke’s HAMLET, which performed at the Almeida and in the West End in 2017, earning the actor an Olivier nomination for Best Actor in 2018. PRESENT LAUGHTER would mark Scott’s return to the Old Vic following his performance in Simon Stephen’s SEA WALL last year, which ran for a limited run of two weeks.

First produced in 1942, Noël Coward’s PRESENT LAUGHTER follows a few days in the life of the successful and self-obsessed comic actor Garry Essendine, as he prepares to travel for a touring commitment in Africa. The role of Garry Essendine, played originally by Noël Coward himself, has been performed by actors including Albert Finney, Donald Sinden, Peter O’Toole, Simon Callow, Victor Garber and Ian McKellen. PRESENT LAUGHTER was produced at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2018 with Rufus Hound in the lead. Meanwhile, the play was last revived on Broadway in 2017 and featured a Tony winning performance from Kevin Kline as Essendine.

Official details for the production are still to be confirmed.