O.C. THEATER REVIEW : Vanguard Revels in ‘Laughter’ : The Fullerton storefront troupe outdoes itself in a production that lives up to the sophisticated demands of Noel Coward’s stylish comedy.

FULLERTON —  For no special reason, except perhaps the doting Anglophilia of local theater buffs, Noel Coward seems to be the playwright of choice so far this season.

With the opening of the Vanguard Theatre Ensemble’s “Present Laughter” over the weekend, no less than three of his comedies have had full-scale productions in the last three months.

First, in Costa Mesa, came South Coast Repertory’s revival of the 1925 “Hay Fever,” a farcical display of drawing-room manners involving a swank Bohemian family and their dizzy weekend guests.

Then, in Garden Grove, came GroveShakespeare’s revival of the 1930 “Private Lives,” a tart exhibition of love and hate involving a recently divorced couple honeymooning with new mates on the Riviera.

This time, we get a stylish and entertaining look at Coward making delicious fun of himself and his fans, circa 1942, while also taking a sly poke at an intimate circle of friends who behave as badly as he does but who prefer not to recognize it.

Of those three plays, I prefer “Present Laughter.” It has enough period flavor to satisfy any antiquarian, one of the chief attractions of “Hay Fever,” yet is much better made than that antic comedy. And it has considerably more variety than “Private Lives,” which has a tendency to become monotonous.

The Vanguard has outdone itself, moreover, with a delightful production that lives up to the play’s sophisticated demands both technically and artistically. More than any previous offering I’ve seen at the Vanguard, “Present Laughter” tests the limits and expands the horizons of this storefront troupe.

Directed by Charles D. Ketter, who solves the problems of in-the-round staging with aplomb, the show not only looks terrific (it has a full complement of striking wardrobe changes), but also does splendid justice to the script’s repartee.

The large amateur cast--led by William Rooney as a middle-aged matinee idol who personifies the Shakespearean phrase that gives the play its title--brings out the witty grace notes as well as the serious motifs about sex, love, friendship, happiness and vanished youth that ripple through the dialogue.

“Present Laughter” must have someone capable of a star performance in the role of the matinee idol or the play collapses, because everything revolves around him--from worried producers, worshipful lovers and fawning fans to a knowing secretary and an understanding wife.

Much to their chagrin and even to his own, he is forever “on” whether he is onstage or not. “I’m always acting,” he freely admits whenever he’s accused of being insincere, which is often. “I’m always watching myself go by. It’s horrible.”

Rooney is a particularly wonderful surprise. He plays the central role of Garry Essendine with alarm in his eyes, avoiding the stereotypical suaveness of a matinee idol. His world-weary comic aura has the put-upon intensity of a scared rabbit, somehow reminiscent of a Terry Thomas or a Gene Wilder.

Players who distinguish themselves in the supporting roles are Cathy Newman with a sturdy performance as the secretary; Wendy Abas, who scintillates in the second act as the manipulative Joanna Lyppiatt (but loses some of her edge in the third); Jill Cary Martin as Garry’s wife, Liz; and Shannon Cream as the cockney butler Fred.

Oddly, Coward himself didn’t have much to say about “Present Laughter.” In an introduction to one of the many volumes of his collected plays, he seems almost dismissive of it, calling it “a very light comedy” and noting only that it “was written with the sensible object of providing me with a bravura part.”

The “excellent notices” for his performance he takes virtually as his due. But, he adds, “to my bewilderment and considerable dismay, the play also was reasonably acclaimed. This so unnerved me that I can say no more.”

Perhaps not. Yet compared with so many of his fluffier comedies, “Present Laughter” is downright serious. Furthermore, by taking the play’s title from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” Coward more or less signals his literary intent and invokes a weightier tone than usual.

In “Twelfth Night,” the clown sings:

What is love? ‘Tis not hereafter;

Present mirth hath present laughter.

What’s to come is still unsure:

In delay there lies no plenty;

Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty,

Youth’s a stuff will not endure. In “Present Laughter,” having lived by that verse as though it were a philosophy of life, Garry dresses down his associates for whining about his free-ranging sexual adventures without looking to their own Byzantine romantic intrigues.

“You believe in your lachrymose amorous hangovers,” he says in a long and memorable speech, “whereas I at least have the grace to take mine lightly.”

* “Present Laughter,” Vanguard Ensemble Theatre, 699-A S. State College Blvd., Fullerton. Thursday-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 5 p.m. Ends July 31. $12 to $14; $10 to $12 students and seniors. (714) 526-8007. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Jennifer Patterson: Daphne Stillington

Brenda Parks: Nuss Erikson

Shannon Cream: Fred

Cathy Newman: Monica Reed

William Rooney: Garry Essendine

Jill Cary Martin: Liz Essendine

Todd Crabtree: Roland Maule

Michael Wilhelm: Morris Dixon

Michael Allen: Hugo Lyppiatt

Wendy Abas: Joanna Lyppiatt

Carol Elmore: Lady Saltburn

A Vanguard Theatre Ensemble production. Written by Noel Coward. Directed by Charles D. Ketter. Produced by Tim Vandehey. Set design by Hugh Haiker. Costume design by Lisa Johnson. Lighting design by Terry Gunkel. Stage manager: Wade Williamson.